Match Reaction | Has Nuri Şahin made Borussia Dortmund a mid-table team?

VfB Stuttgart overcame Borussia Dortmund 5-1 in emphatic fashion at the MHP Arena to leapfrog Die Schwarzgelben in the Bundesliga table.

Heading into Sunday afternoon, there was uncertainty surrounding what kind of game would play out between Stuttgart and Dortmund.

With the hosts having started the season well, they had failed to receive the results their performances deserved, while BvB had yet to fall to defeat under Nuri Şahin, despite still adjusting to the demands of their new head coach.

However, quite quickly it became apparent how the match would end, as Dortmund resembled a chaotic mess, allowing Deniz Undav and Ermedin Demirović to fire Sebastian Hoeneß’s into a 2-0 lead heading into the break—and in truth, it could have been far worse for BvB.

After the interval, Dortmund came out having made fresh changes but surprisingly looked even worse than in the first half as Stuttgart registered a further three goals to the embarrassment of the visitors.

BvB would find a goal courtesy of Serhou Guirassy, but their defensive troubles that had been highlighted prior to this game cost them from being a major threat to Stuttgart, who appear to be far superior to Şahin’s side.

Has Nuri Şahin made Borussia Dortmund a mid-table team?

Last season, under Edin Terzić, Dortmund reached the Champions League final, where they narrowly lost to Real Madrid despite dominating the tie for the majority of the game.

Two seasons ago, under Edin Terzić, Dortmund were ninety minutes away from being crowned German champions for the first time in eleven years.

In spite of these two phenomenal campaigns, orchestrated by Terzić, the 41-year-old was relieved of his duties in the summer in favour of his understudy Nuri Şahin, having been blamed for taking a rather pragmatic approach rather than implementing entertaining football at the Westfalenstadion.

However, with Mats Hummels in his defence and an ageing forward line including the likes of Marco Reus and Niclas Füllkrug, Terzić was undoubtedly limited in the style of football he could force upon his Dortmund side.

While players have moved on and Die Schwarzgelben have invested in finding replacements for their older stars who have now all moved on, they have looked drastically worse under Şahin, who has attempted to adopt a more ball-dominant approach to his side.

Positive results against Eintracht Frankfurt, Heidenheim, and Atalanta had papered over some of the cracks this season, but against Stuttgart, Dortmund were exposed on a galactic scale.

With no defensive structure, BvB looked lost at sea every time Die Roten serged upon Gregor Kobel’s goal, creating a hatful of goalscoring opportunities in the first half—only taking two of them.

In the second half, despite making changes to address their issues, Şahin only made them worse.

Rather than Marcel Sabitzer being forced out of position to help out defensively, instead Julian Brandt was informed to withdraw from more attacking areas, which in turn stunted any possible attacking threat BvB could have carried.

This allowed Stuttgart to score a further three goals in a game that could have seen them hit double figures in what was a tactical disasterclass from Şahin.

A positive for Die Schwarzgelben was Jamie Gittens, who registered an assist for the returning Serhou Guirassy and will undeniably be a key player for Şahin this season after also impressing during the week in the Champions League.

Nevertheless, the former Real Madrid midfielder will need to reconsider his approach, as for most of the game, they looked like a mid-table side—or worse—who looked in awe of their hosts.

A question that could be made too is that under Terzić, would BvB have looked so unprepared and out of their depth against a fellow Champions League rival?

GGFN | Will Shopland