Priority to defense
©IMAGO
BVB’s season so far can in all conscience be described as mixed. The last Bundesliga victory was four weeks ago, and before the last match of 2024 in Wolfsburg (Sunday, 5:30 p.m.), the Westphalians occupy 8th place in the standings, as the “Sky” television channel reported on Friday. Coach Nuri Şahin appealed in a moving inflammatory speech to the honor of his players. When it comes to winter transfers, defense in particular should take priority.
Among the top teams in the championship, only VfB Stuttgart have conceded more goals in the first half of the season than Dortmund, who even fall behind newly promoted side FC St. Pauli in this statistic. According to a report from “Bild”, sports director Sebastian Kehl will therefore receive a winter budget in the order of several million euros and could invest between 10 and 15 million euros to make adjustments in January. The emphasis would be placed on central and full-back positions in order to expand the current team there.
TM rumor mill has recently traded the likes of Milos Kerkez (21; Bournemouth), Ben Chilwell (27; Chelsea) and Olivier Boscagli (27) from Eindhoven. Coach Şahin recently explained about the winter transfers: « After Wolfsburg we will definitely sit down and think about whether we should do something and if we do something, in which direction it will go. »
According to a current report from ‘Sky’, the 36-year-old, who has averaged 1.68 points in 22 games so far, took his team to task immediately after the match following their third consecutive league draw against Hoffenheim. The focus would have been on inconsistent performances, lack of body language and winning mentality. “Are you the type to win?”, reports the channel which reports that Emre Can (30 years old) replied “apparently no, if we are eighth…”.
Şahin had already spoken in front of the television cameras about « perhaps the worst performance of the season » and stressed: « I am very, very angry and disappointed that we just left two points behind us, captain Can also makes a devious attack (towards the). article) .