Dortmund Head Into Next Season With Attacking Prowess.

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp achieved his greatest success last season when he lifted the club to an impressive 5th place which would secure Europa League football for the coming season. Although Klopp is relatively inexperienced, his enthusiasm and thirst for success will spur his side on to greater success. Klopp has quite a squad at his disposal this season with Borussia Dortmund, but it will be down to his ability to put all of those working parts together and create a force that will compete for Europa League qualification on a domestic front and the Europa League title on a European front that will determine how successful Dortmund are to be this season.

Key Players

It’s fair to say that Borussia Dortmund have a lot less stability defensively than they do in attack. One defender who does stand out though, despite his age, is Neven Subotic. Subotic played most of his youth football in the United States after his family moved there when he was 10. Subotic when on to be capped for both the U-17 and U-21 levels for the United States, but when the call came from Serbia, he opted to play for his home nation at the senior national level. His positional sense and aerial ability will be key for Dortmund this season, and he will look to continue to impress and fulfill his potential with Dortmund.

Up top, Borussia Dortmund’s strength can really be seen. With the likes of Nelson Valdez, Lucas Barrios, and Mohamed Zidan, Borussia Dortmund’s front-line is one that can really carve out opportunities and out-score opponents. Although, none of them would be scoring the goals they did if it weren’t for the support they get from the midfield. The man in the middle that creates Dortmund’s attacking opportunities is probably more important to Dortmund than the strikers themselves. That man, is Nuri Sahin. The young midfielder has come out in the press already this pre-season and has declared that he considers himself equal to Bastian Schweinsteiger. Certainly, he will look to springboard an already impressive start to his career on the Europa League stage this season. Nuri Sahin’s creativity and box-to-box qualities make him an asset to his team.

Newcomers

It doesn’t look like Dortmund have made any very impressive signings this summer, but what has to be praised is their ability to bring through incredible youth prospects. A midfielder like Sven Bender seems to be next on the list of admirable German midfield stalwarts. Sven Bender, and his twin-brother Lars Bender who plays at Bayer Leverkusen, will both look to make a mark in the Bundesliga this season. Both brothers were a part of the U-19 German side that won the European U-19 Championship in 2008. Now, at 21 years old, they will look to be regular contributors for their respective clubs. Sven will most likely be kept under the wing of Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl, and look to improve his game under Kehl’s guidance.

Expectations

It is unlikely that – because of Dortmund’s rather rickety defense – they will be able to continue to push for Europa League qualification this season. After Hamburg and Wolfsburg have both done their best to strengthen their squads for the upcoming season, it is unlikely that Dortmund will be able to hold their place in the top six. An 8th placed finish may be all we see from Dortmund this season.