Title race is over, players need to convince the board to keep them

There was a great hype in Borussia’s camp in September 2021. After narrowly finishing third in Bundesliga with a caretaker coach Edin Terzić, Dortmund found a proper manager in Marco Rose, who revitalized Monchengladbach years before. Erling Haaland was set to stay for another season and Donyell Malen was bought to replace Jadon Sancho. There were serious talks about going in for the Bundesliga title, but after Saturday’s thrashing from RB Leipzig, 10th consecutive trophy is destined for Bayern Munich, who now has 9 points more, with six games to go. But even more worrying thing for the club and the fans now is Borussia’s form.

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The Millionaires are not playing well. They hold the second spot, but are now under threat from Bayer Leverkusen. They simply don’t have the quality to become champions this season. And future sporting director Sebastian Kehl (he will inherit Michael Zorc in June) acknowledged he is not happy.

“Of course we try to play better, more successful football. But don't forget that we're still second. Still, it doesn't feel good at the moment" said Kehl to Bild.

What former Borussia midfielder is actually doing is accessing the current squad, ahead of the upcoming transfer window. There are some weak spots in this team which were visible at the start of the season, but Dortmund’s problems in the back are more than evident. The Millionaires have already agreed a majoj transfer – Niklas Sule from Bayern, but it seems that they will need at least 3 more players at the back.

Teams like Bochum, Union Berlin, Cologne or Freiburg all have better defenses, not to mention Bielefeld, who will struggle to stay alive in Bundesliga. The biggest disappointments have been the most experienced ones: Marc Hummels and Emre Can. Former Germany internationals have made too many individual errors this season which directly influenced the finals score and they need to be replaced.

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On the opposite side, Borussia faced a much more injured Erling Haaland than before. When fully fit, the striker is deadly accurate (80 goals in 83 competitive games), but he has been injured more times than Ronaldo and they do miss him. On top of that, he is almost certain to go this summer, so a proper substitution is required. And we don’t want to start analyzing some of the midfielders in the club, and their inconsistent performances (did somebody said Marco Reus?). Jude Bellingham remained the only consistent performer so far, and it might cost Borussia, as they will be forced to sell him ahead of time, if Real or Liverpool come calling.

(5.60) VILLARREAL (4.00) BAYERN MUNICH (1.67)

The only person who is 100% secure is coach Marco Rose. Borussia paid 5 million euros compensation to get him from Monchengladbach and he is in his first year. Apart from achieving the main goal (the Champions league spot), he also had big problems with injured players, which certainly influenced the final result, and he will be given time to achieve something in the next season.