5 Things for Dortmund Fans to Look Forward to in the 2015/16 Bundesliga Season

It's been a tough old season for fans of Borussia Dortmund. Sure, the club may finish the campaign with the DFB-Pokal trophy to go alongside Europa League qualification, but by and large, it has been a year to forget for Jurgen Klopp and his side. 

Yet as the favoured coach steps aside for Thomas Tuchel this summer, fans will undoubtedly return to the Westfalenstadion for pre-season friendlies with a renewed sense of hope. Football fans may well be fickle, but they also have a boundless enthusiasm for the joys that may lie just around the corner. 

Here are five things Dortmund fans should be optimistic about for next season.

New Tactics

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

One of the most stagnant aspects of Klopp's team this season has been the manner in which the manager has stuck by his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation through thick and thin. 

Dortmund's form may have come and gone, just like the players in the squad, but the fans could always bet on the same, overused formation from one week to the next.

Under Tuchel, that'll most likely change. In his final season at Mainz, the German coach tended to use the 4-2-3-1 formation too but was willing to change to a 4-4-2, 4-1-4-1 and even a 5-4-1 if it made more sense. 

The incoming manager is far more trusting of new styles and formations than the incumbent, which should help Dortmund next season.

A Goalscoring Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Henrikh Mkhitaryan only scored three goals this season, meaning when it comes to his tally next time out, it almost certainly can't get any worse. 

Under a new manager and a fresh style of play, there is reason to be optimistic. The Armenia international isn't a lazy, bloated star who has since decided just to pick up his paycheque each week—he clearly wants to keep improving and move back up that goalscoring chart. 

Should Tuchel take to him and afford him the right time and space in Dortmund's side next year, then we'll undoubtedly see more from the forward.

A Revitalised Mats Hummels

Michael Probst/Associated Press

Now that Mats Hummels has seemingly committed himself to the club for the foreseeable future, claimed by Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc in Kicker (h/t Sky Sports), the Germany international can get back to being a world-class central defender for his club. 

Although Hummels has shown his talent at times this campaign, it all too often seemed as though his head had been turned amid the chaos that the club was going through before the winter break.

With a new manager and a new lease of life, we expect to see this defender back to his best next season. 

Europa League Football

Alik Keplicz/Associated Press

It might not be as fancy or as lucrative as the Champions League, but in grabbing a last-minute Europa League spot for next season, Dortmund have a campaign of continental football to look forward to. 

Sure, many teams may see the competition's labouring schedule as a hassle worth avoiding—especially in England—but there's no doubt Dortmund fans were desperate to see their team ensure European football for next season as the Bundesliga campaign started to come to a close.

Although Tuchel will be prioritising a strong finish in the Bundesliga in his first season, there's no reason why this team can't consider winning the Europa League a realistic ambition. 

New Blood

Michael Probst/Associated Press

If there's one thing we can be sure of this summer, it's that Tuchel will be given money to spend. Therefore, we can expect to see new players arrive at the Westfalenstadion before the new campaign kicks off. 

Although nothing as been confirmed yet, Johannes Geis from Mainz has been heavily linked with a move to Dortmund, with Goal going as far as to say the deal is all but done back on May 8. 

Regardless of whether Geis makes the switch, we can be sure of others coming and going too. Fresh blood is what Dortmund need this summer, and they'll almost certainly get it.