What Borussia Dortmund Have to Do to Turn Their Season Around

Borussia Dortmund's 2014-15 season has been, in general, a catastrophe thus far. The utter capitulation in domestic play that has left them 17th in the Bundesliga table less than three months into the campaign has far and away outshone their success in Champions League and domestic cup play.

Rather than a superpower of world football, BVB have been stricken by the first crisis of Jurgen Klopp's tenure as head coach.

Accordingly, the general narrative in German and international press has shifted from a question of whether Marco Reus will accept a contract extension to endless speculation on where his next destination will be in the inevitable event that he leaves the club next summer, such as from Hoffenheim scout Lutz Pfannenstiel, writing in the Mirror.

But all is not lost. Not yet, at least.

Dortmund need more of the same in tournament competitions from now until the end of May and a huge turnaround in domestic play. They need to have such a convincing remainder of the campaign that they can write off their woeful Bundesliga slump as a blip.

It will have been a costly one, but if it is indeed proven to be a brief and limited slump (chalk it up to injuries or the team adapting to the additions of Ciro Immobile and Adrian Ramos, for example), the 2011 and 2012 German champions may be able to save face.

This can only come with a second-placed finish in the Bundesliga after a ferocious run in which they dominate opponents as they once did and restore the respect they once commanded from domestic rivals.

Not long ago, most German clubs feared Dortmund as they did Bayern Munich. Now opponents have extra motivation, knowing they can take down the wounded giants as they struggle to find their form. A run of wins by two or more goals could go a long way toward restoring their self-respect.

Convincing victories in the league can also have a big impact on the feeling of Dortmund's players toward their club. Perhaps some have lacked motivation in recent weeks, the Bundesliga having been lost long before.

If they restore their pride and begin winning more, it will be due to improved morale and esteem for the club, the kind of commitment to the cause that saw them nearly become European champions 18 months ago.

Outside domestic play, Dortmund need trophies, hands down. Footballers play to win titles and make money, and if BVB can't offer either in excess of those of their rivals, they cannot expect to maintain their squad and develop a consistent, cohesive team in the long-term.

Dortmund have every right to feel that they were hard done by with refereeing in recent cup finals. They could well have played with at least a one-man advantage for more than an hour in the 2013 Champions League final. They were not awarded a goal after the ball had crossed the goal line in the 2014 DFB-Pokal final.

But at the end of both matches, the score spelled victory to Bayern over their domestic rivals.

The sad reality for a smaller club like BVB is that they need to do more in order to win. Smaller clubs will rarely get the benefit of referees' decisions, and that lesson should have been hammered home in each of the last two seasons.

Another crucial lesson that should have been hammered into the minds of Dortmund's stars, Marco Reus in particular, is that desire produces trophies. It's easy enough for a player to say he wants to win, but the ability to reach another level of performance and come through in the moments that matter most is a skill that separates great players from legends of the game. It's what decides titles.

In 2013, Arjen Robben was desperate to put his previous failures behind him, most notably failing to beat Iker Casillas one-on-one in the 2010 World Cup final and missing two key penalties for Bayern in the spring of 2012.

He turned his weakness into strength, pouncing on the chance to decide the Champions League final in the dying minutes. A year later, it was his 107th-minute strike that put Bayern on course for victory in the Pokal final.

It takes time for talented players to realize their own decisiveness in key moments; it's rare that a star in his teens or early 20s will have a match-winning performance in a title-decider. Some, like Robben, take the majority of a career to realize their potential.

Dortmund have a few players in their squad, principally Reus, who have such potential. They'll need this kind of decisiveness in order to win at least one major cup title this spring; the DFB-Pokal, of course, being the most accessible.

If they don't win the Champions League, Dortmund will at least need to make a strong run in Europe's most elite club tournament. Their exit to eventual winners Real Madrid by a narrow margin last season should be remembered as something of a success (Bayern were hammered 5-0 by Real on aggregate in the next round while BVB only lost 3-2 with a B-team).

However, it wasn't; perhaps because it was not impressively far into the knockout rounds (the quarterfinals) and also because BVB finished miles behind Bayern in the Bundesliga. They were behind early in the Real tie and were always expected to lose.

In this season's Champions League, Dortmund need to take down mega-clubs like Real, Barcelona, Chelsea or Bayern and reach the semifinals in order to make a real statement that, even after the departures of Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski, they still have the class to contend with any team in a one-off contest.

It already is clear enough that they lack the depth to compete in domestic play, but if they slay one or two giants along the way, it could go a long way for the club's reputation.

In summary, Dortmund have a very long way to go if they are to turn their season around and make it a success. Player morale is a shadow of its former self and the club is missing the same passion and intensity it once had.

Dortmund need opponents to fear them once more, and they need to give their players reason to believe in the club's ability once more. This can only come with at least one title and strong performances from now on in all three competitions.

A long shot but an endeavor that would not be the biggest surprise of the Klopp era.

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