Niko Kovac irritated by criticism of BVB football, but still understanding | OneFootball

Actually, the sporting situation at Borussia Dortmund isn’t all that bad. Especially compared to where they stood in the Bundesliga a year ago. Stabilizing the team is something Niko Kovac can rightfully claim as his achievement. However, the fact that criticism of the playing style has recently become increasingly audible is starting to annoy the BVB coach more and more, reports the Welt.

Borussia Dortmund has collected seven more points than at the same time last year, and as second in the table, they are Bayern’s main challenger. However, there is still a considerable gap, which stands at nine points. And in the opinion of many critics, that gap could have been six points smaller.

On three occasions recently, Dortmund let a lead slip away against opponents Hamburger SV, VfB Stuttgart, and SC Freiburg, and had to settle for a draw. The same phenomenon appeared in two Champions League matches, when they failed to win at Juventus Turin despite scoring four goals themselves, and produced a particularly disappointing 2-2 at home against FK Bodö/Glimt.

“References to this have recently started to annoy Kovac,” is how the Welt describes the coach’s mood. In fact, since April, they have only lost to absolute top clubs, defends Lars Ricken, referring to the coach and his results: Real Madrid, FC Bayern, Manchester City, FC Barcelona, and Bayer Leverkusen.

Photo: IMAGO

Ricken points to BVB’s rare defeats

But this stability alone is no longer enough for many fans. “The football played by the Westphalians is rarely spectacular,” is how the Welt also assesses BVB’s style as not very thrilling. And Kovac, at the training camp—somewhat less stressed than in the league routine—showed some understanding. He admitted there are “one or two areas where there’s still room for improvement.” Work on this is being done in Marbella, Spain. “We have to make better use of our chances. It’s about ball control and things like that.” Waldemar Anton also agrees that there are “generally a few issues” that need to be addressed. When it comes to “tactical things, maybe set pieces,” the national player definitely sees a need to improve Borussia Dortmund’s performance in the new year.

However, Kovac is once again having to deal with many issues that don’t directly concern BVB’s style of play: “Indiscipline among his stars, ongoing transfer rumors about Nico Schlotterbeck, debates about contract extensions for captain Emre Can, Julian Brandt, and Karim Adeyemi are weighing on the atmosphere.” The coach, however, sees responsibility for these aspects with the club’s management, so he can focus fully on football himself.

The results of this work will be on display as early as Friday, when BVB plays away at Eintracht Frankfurt.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.