Media: Julian Brandt enduring another season of ups and downs | OneFootball

Julian Brandt has been playing for Borussia Dortmund for six years now. In no season has he consistently been able to showcase his undisputed qualities over an extended period. This season, too, he presents a peculiar picture, as judged by Lukas Thiele on WDR.

The overall situation at BVB, despite the 1-2 defeat against FC Bayern Munich, can be described as "generally okay," Thiele begins his assessment of Julian Brandt's situation. In the Champions League, they have two wins and one draw, keeping them on track.

A defeat against FC Bayern Munich always has to be considered, especially when they are performing strongly as they are now. And the Borussians didn't perform too poorly there. No other club has come so close to securing a point against FCB in recent weeks. This was also due to the impact of Julian Brandt, who was substituted in the 82nd minute and then scored the 1-2 with his first touch.

Brandt generally impresses this season with statistically good output. Two goals and two assists make him the second most successful player at BVB, only Serhou Guirassy has better stats, and he is a center forward after all.

Photo: IMAGO

Kovac mostly refrains from starting Brandt

Even more telling for the native of Bremen is the average of just 67 minutes of playtime Julian Brandt needs for a goal involvement. Only Harry Kane, who is in a league of his own in this regard, has a better rate in the Bundesliga with 42 minutes.

Nevertheless, Julian Brandt cannot persuade his coach Niko Kovac to start him more frequently than has been the case so far this season. The German international has only been in the starting lineup twice in the Bundesliga, being substituted in late four times.

It was not particularly helpful that Brandt was indeed in the starting lineup against FC Copenhagen – and then once again delivered an inconspicuous performance. "Performance fluctuations are something that has almost characterized Brandt's entire time at BVB. Sometimes he is the outstanding player on the pitch, sometimes he is invisible," Thiele recalls. The reasons for this are still unknown, which is why Julian Brandt must once again endure a "season of contradictions."

The Kicker also suspects that Julian Brandt might not appear in the starting lineup of Borussia Dortmund against 1. FC Köln again.

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