A Blueprint for Borussia Dortmund's Rise Back to the Top of the Bundesliga

Thomas Tuchel will arrive at Borussia Dortmund this summer with an almighty task ahead of him yet if we know the German manager like we think then we can be sure that he’ll have an extensive blueprint in hand, ready to address the numerous problems currently bothering the club. 

The former Mainz manager made his name through the manner in which he built up his former side and if he is hoping for success at the Westfalenstadion next season he may well be forced to do it all again with this Dortmund side.

Perhaps the most notable problem in this current team is the simple fact that they don’t defend quite like they used to.

When Dortmund were winning championships and confidently disposing of Bayern in the league they had a defensive partnership of Mats Hummels and Neven Subotic that was breaking defensive records and ensuring nobody got through.

What the club now face is a much bleaker scenario. Although the same individuals are still at the club, Hummels is far from his consistent self, Subotic is ever so slightly injury prone and Marcel Schmelzer, Lukasz Piszczek and Roman Weidenfeller have been on a downward spiral in form and talent for the past three years.

Tuchel does have tools to work with. Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Matthias Ginter are two central defenders who could continue to push on and become first-team regulars—especially if Hummels leaves—while Erik Durm and Jeremy Dudziak offer plenty of food for thought to consider on either flank.

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Tuchel can rebuild this defense into one worthy of challenging for championships, but it won’t be easy.
Another change that will undoubtedly come to pass this summer will be when Tuchel comes in and almost immediately begins to implement his own tactical ideas on the side.

Yet rather than a swap from the typical 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 that Klopp has held on to throughout his time in Dortmund, the side will feel a much bigger lift from just being able to shift and twist their tactics under a far more agile manager.

For all Klopp’s success as a manager he isn’t a coach who can quickly change or alter his tactics to address immediate problems. Tuchel can and will, which should almost certainly make Dortmund a more formidable foe next season.

Pep Guardiola, one the most successful managers in world football at the moment, isn’t the tactical master that he is because he has one system that trumps all others. He’s so successful because he knows when to shake things up and start again.

Tuchel has that too and it’s a factor that should give his side an edge over Klopp’s from this current campaign.

The young manager will also have to address the front line, which, despite scoring a healthy amount of goals between them this season, is still all over the place and no closer to replacing Robert Lewandowski than it was last summer. 

Ciro Immobile will either have to be fully embraced or cut loose when Tuchel arrives and alongside him the futures of Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will also have to be figured out.

It’s no coincidence that there’s only one name on that front line every week that definitely gets to keep his place, Marco Reus, and the fact that Dortmund can look so dysfunctional when moving forward.

@SBienkowski