“9 points after three games, you couldn’t hope for much more”, BVB captain Mats Hummels said after the match against Berlin, before him and many of his teammates join their national teams at the beginning of the week. Some time to relax. Not for the international players, but for all the BVB fans. Then after the international break Borussia will excite them again.

Thomas Tuchel has instilled a new playing philosophy in the squad. This is new for both the players and the fans, but is already bearing fruit early in the season. In all the eight games played so far, BVB have had the majority of the possession, controlled the games, set the pace of the match. They have waited very patiently for their opportunities to arise and have, so far, been very successful.

Even against Hertha BSC, whose match plan was to rob BVB of their strengths by playing very defensively? “We wanted to sit back, and take the pace out of Dortmund’s game”, BSC manager Pal Dardai explained after the game. It worked for 27 minutes, but BVB play patiently nowadays and if that doesn’t work, they push harder to gain the advantage. “Aerial powerhouses” like Mats Hummels are always likely to score. The BVB captain has scored 11 of his 18 Bundesliga goals with his head. He scored in the Signal Iduna Park again for the first time since 1st March 2014 (against Nuremberg) against Hertha.

“Auba”, “Miki”, Kagawa, Reus directly involved with 29 goals

Borussia Dortmund’s goal scorers are difficult to predict. In Aubameyang, Ginter, Hummels, Kagawa, Mkhitaryan, Reus and Ramos they have seven players who have already scored in only 3 Bundesliga matches. Almost everyone seems to have scored which, obviously, is really good offensively and leaves their opponents guessing. “Auba”, “Miki”, Shinji and Marco Reus in particular drive the game again and again. They were directly involved in all eleven Bundesliga goals, and 29 of 30 goals in total so far this season. As yet hardly anyone has managed to keep out the Dortmund offense. Even when they defend deeply in their own half, like Hertha BSC or FC Ingolstadt last week.

Thomas Tuchel‘s team is prepared. “We know that this happens a lot. The opposition will often park the bus and then it’s difficult to break them down.” Hummels observes, “But we’ve brought our quality onto the pitch in the last few games.” This means a deep defence doesn’t help, as BVB always create chances.

They’ve hardly conceded this season

Whilst this is an area they can still work on, Thomas Tuchel doesn’t blame his players. Quite the opposite: “I was happy, that we played attacking football again”, said the manager, “The players themselves are confident that they can score goals.”

In addition to the forward line, which has often been the focus in the last few weeks, the defence also came into the spotlight this week. As the only Bundesliga team with a clean sheet, they were bound to concede a goal eventually – which was even more unexpected because Kalou was offside. Borussia are keeping it tight at the back and causing a sensation.

Being top of the table is a nice bonus

Who better epitomises BVBs amazing performance than the two full-backs? Matthias Ginter is flourishing as right-back, in the last two games he has had two assists and scored one himself. “I feel comfortable as right-back”, he openly admitted. And Marcel Schmelzer? He has been on top form since the beginning of the season, which is reminiscent of his performances from 2010 to 2014. During that time he was in the spotlight with the national first team, earning 16 international caps. His last appearance was in March 2014.

The great bonus of their amazing start to the season? BVB are top of the table. “It’s early days”, stressed Thomas Tuchel.  Nevertheless, Marcel Schmelzer is happy: “We can enjoy that for ten days now.” Mats Hummels adds: “It’s a good foundation to give us confidence after the international break. I hope that we can build on this in Hannover.”

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich