Mats Hummels' Return to Form Key for Borussia Dortmund's Silverware Hopes

Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-1 on Sunday evening on Matchday 16 of the 2015/16 Bundesliga campaign. As they have so often this season, the Black and Yellows could bank on star performers Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored their 14th and 26th goals of the season respectively.

But the best player on the field was one whom many had written off already. The man of the match—quite clearly—was Mats Hummels. The skipper seems to have turned the corner after a slew of disappointing performances in the middle of the first half of the campaign. His return to form could very well be the decisive factor as his side prepares to fight for silverware in three competitions in the new year.

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Despite the fact Dortmund are playing one heck of a season—only in their 2010/11 title-winning season did BVB have more points on the board after 16 matches (43) than they do this season (38), as the club's website noted—the Black and Yellows have some noticeable weaknesses.

Against Frankfurt, they conceded the first goal of the match for the 13th time across all competitions, meaning they have had to chase the game in a staggering 46 per cent of their 28 matches. 

The Eagles managed to score with their first shot of the game, which has been a recurring theme for Dortmund; the same thing has happened to them in games against Odds in the UEFA Europa League qualifier in August, Hannover and Darmstadt in the Bundesliga in September and against PAOK—twice—and Krasnodar in the Europa League group stage.

That Dortmund have managed to salvage at least a point in nine of those 13 games and a win in six is testament to their potent attack. They will need to shore up defensively, however. Having kept only one clean sheet in their last 12 matches in all competitions, that much is evident. But there are signs of improvement.

In the five games since their somewhat embarrassing defeat at the hands of Hamburg, Dortmund have conceded five goals but only allowed 19 shots on target, per WhoScored.com. Two of the goals were penalties. That Dortmund lost two of the five matches was due to their offense sputtering, not the defence struggling.

Head coach Thomas Tuchel looks set to permanently convert defensive midfielder Sven Bender into a defender, with encouraging results so far, as we highlighted after Dortmund's recent win over Wolfsburg. 

It's not a stretch to say, however, that Dormund's hopes for silverware hinge on their skipper. On the evidence of his display against Frankfurt, the supporters can dream big. It was vintage Hummels. Granted, he didn't have too much to do defensively because of the Eagles' focus on defence.

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But there was a time this season when Hummels probably would've brought danger upon his own team, as tactics blogger Constantin Eckner wrote for Yellowwallpod:

"

But then, at one point, the sloppy version of him shows up, delivering a horrendous pass right into the feet of an opponent. When Schalke’s Leon Goretzka had a complete read on him, he could not resist temptation and went for a vertical ball. Interception. Counter-attack. Goal conceded.

"

Against Frankfurt, Hummels' vertical balls were a sight to behold; his pre-assist for Mkhitaryan's equaliser was nothing short of sensational.

Hummels also got on the scoresheet himself in the second half, and the whole team celebrated with their captain, who admitted after the game recent critiques got to him, per ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko.

Buczko rated him a perfect 10/10, writing: "His performance, crowned by a goal, will be help to restore his self-esteem. Eintracht's lack of menace meant Hummels could once again shine in build-up play."

In many ways, Hummels was an extra midfielder against the deep-sitting Hessians, as Eckner noted: "With Hummels moving forward, Dortmund found themselves in a comfortable situation in midfield, out-numbering and therefore out-playing the guests quite easily."

Sterner tests will come than the one an overmatched Frankfurt provided, starting with a DFB-Pokal meeting with resurgent Augsburg on Wednesday. Dortmund's skipper has to build on this performance and prove it wasn't a one-off.

Only then can Dortmund's fans safely say Hummels is his old self again and ready to lead his team to great things.

Lars Pollmann is a featured columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for Yellowwallpod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.