After a Bundesliga campaign 2017/18 in which Borussia Dortmund secured the last place in qualifying in the Champions League, Lucien Favre was appointed new club director on 22 May. Expectations regarding the former boss of OGC Nice have clearly rang long after his arrival.
"It is important to me that Lucien is not overloaded by an unrealistic expectation, "said Dortmund General Manager Hans-Joachim Watzke, at the arrival of Favre, quoted by the president. Bundesliga.
"We are very ambitious and we still want to qualify for the Champions League, but beyond that, we will discuss it internally."
Fast forward almost 11 months, however, and the expectations at Signal Iduna Park have clearly changed. The Favre team is fortunate to have five points ahead of the top of the standings if it beats Bayern Munich at Der Klbadiker this weekend, six days from the end.
With Die Schwarzgelben in an ideal position to win his first Bundesliga title since Jurgen Klopp's team managed to win in 2012, here is why Favre's first season in Dortmund is synonymous with long-term success for club.
Dortmund finished 34 points behind Die Roten last season. The attack of 36 points was therefore very miraculous. Although the difficult Bayern season under Niko Kovac is well documented, BVB should take some of it. revolve around.
The club's athletic director, Michael Zorc, and Favre have been extremely well recruited during the summer. Axel Witsel was one of the best rookies in Europe this season, after a strong World Cup performance for Belgium., slightly ahead of Paco Alcacer in terms of success, the Spaniard getting noticed initial Permanent loan movement at the club was its impact.
In addition, seasoned activist Thomas Delaney, a member of the Bundesliga, joined the already talented ranks, forging a strong partnership in the midfield with the aforementioned Belgian, while talented defenders Abdou Diallo and Achraf Hakimi excelled under the Favre guardianship, with all of them getting used to 61-year-old methods.
Instead of swashbuckling approach, capped by "Gegenpressing", which has earned Klopp its success, the Favre players are much more pragmatic, because they do not support so relentlessly in the last third, their usual form of 4-2-3-1 becoming a 4-1-4-1 in defense, with Witsel filtering the defense, which allowed them to concede only 30 goals in the league.
This does not mean that they do not attack with the same pace and ferocity as what was expected of Dortmund, especially in counter-attack. Bayern is the only country to have scored more goals than the 66 of Die Schwarzgelben, although the biggest indication of the improvements brought by BVB under Favre came with its continued late clues.
Of the 66 goals scored this season, 21 were scored in the 75th minute or later (32%), while Dortmund won no less than six league games with goals scored in the 84th minute or more, including of the last three. against Stuttgart, Hertha BSC and Wolfsburg, which is certainly not the worst of habits.
Their biggest supporter of Dortmund's "never say dead" attitude was Alcacer's summer signing, with 11 of his 16 goals in the league in the 75th minute or later, which certainly helped their push for somewhat unexpected title this season.
Besides Alcacer, Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho also played a decisive role in BVB's attack, whether it was to score goals or to create them.
Reus is no stranger to Favre after their stint together at Borussia Monchengladbach, although the 29-year-old was then a left winger, while now, Switzerland is deploying the German international in a central role of D & B. Devastating effect.
So far, Reus has scored 15 goals in the league, three of his best total of 18 goals – in the 2011/12 campaign under Favre – as well as six badists, with the change of position and the responsibility of the captaincy, bring the best to a player who, when he is fit, can win a match by himself.
Sancho has meanwhile matured significantly this season while he was only 19 years old. The former young Manchester City player now seems to thrive under the pressure and pleasure of a title race. His figures reflect this season.
Although he is a source of goals rather than goals, Sancho still has eight goals in eight respectable league games, but it's his 13 badists that have allowed clubs to sit and be noticed, Manchester United being ready to part with 100 million pounds. Bring him to Old Trafford this summer.
His 13 badists in the Bundesliga are in fact the best result among the players of the five best European leagues – in a season that saw Sancho making his international debut in England – Favre playing a major role in his development by giving him the record on field. what he is capable of.
In fact, it is a reputation that has inspired Favre throughout his career as a leader, as evidenced by his stint at Die Fohlen because of the progress of Reus and Marc-André ter Stegen during his tenure While in Dortmund, the likes of Manuel Akanji and the academy, Jacob Bruun Larsen has flourished this season in a young, hungry and now seeking title team.
After registering a decisive pbad in Borussia Dortmund's 2-0 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday, Jadon Sancho now has the most badists in the top five European leagues this season (13), one on Leo Messi.
Complete Player Statistics – https://t.co/rl1lEldyq5 pic.twitter.com/uC2UAVJCaJ
– WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) March 31, 2019
It has not been easy for Favre this season, improvements are needed in the cups for the Dortmund Cup next season after third-round and 16-game outings of the DFB-Pokal and the Champions League. , respectively, while a win in five league games between February 2 and March 1 (D3 L1), Bayern is back in the title race.
What this season has been, however, is a glimpse of what could be a promising future for Dortmund and Favre. A combination of clever transfers, system and style, as well as the development of young players seems to be the ideal partner for the club.
Add to that the chance to win both Der Klbadikers in a season for the first time since 2011/12 – the last time that they won the title -, a win at the Allianz Arena could therefore be a precursor of success now and further into the future. .
