With more than a third of the season gone, Borussia Dortmund have become one of the first teams in Europe to book a place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League and reached the DFB Cup last 16, but they have not quite met their own high expectations in the Bundesliga. Speaking in an interview with bvb.de, the club's Chief Executive Officer Hans-Joachim Watzke gives his verdict on the season so far.

image

Mr Watzke, let's talk about the events over the course of the past 14 days. This last fortnight…
Hans-Joachim Watzke: …has been characterised by the sporting success against Bayern Munich, a series of successful meetings in the Westfalenhalle and a sense of great harmony. The BVB family has once again conducted itself as a real unit. By subsequently beating Legia Warsaw in the Champions League we have given ourselves the chance to reach the knockout stages as group winners. It was the highest-scoring game in the competition's history. One might get annoyed about the goals we conceded, but it was certainly good entertainment for many millions of viewers. I believe the match against Warsaw offered the fans yet another wonderful and extraordinary evening of football.

During the general meeting, you spoke of your desire for the team to build on the success that they had against Bayern Munich by picking up another win in Frankfurt. Why do you think the team succumbed to defeat in Hesse?
Watzke: We followed up four competitive wins in a row with a performance that wasn't particularly good in Frankfurt. However, we should not forget that Eintracht – a team that had not lost in five games before facing us – only had one shot on goal in the first half. While we acknowledge the performance of our opponents, we know we are capable of playing better. The Bundesliga is very even this year, the gap between us and the Champions League places is still only three points. It goes without saying that I'm expecting every single one of our players to be fully focused on our remaining games before the winter break – firstly against Mönchengladbach, then in Madrid, Hoffenheim and Köln, and finally against Augsburg – so that we can pick up as many points as possible to further improve our position going into the second half of the season.

Coach Thomas Tuchel heavily criticised the team after the game. Did the media reaction surprise you?
Watzke: The reaction didn't but the interpretations did. Anyone who knows Michael Zorc and I, and who has seen how coaches operate under us at BVB, will know that they act completely on their own authority – with regard to the sporting leadership of the team – and we believe this is how it should be. If not Thomas Tuchel, then whose job is it to criticise the performance and the approach of the players? Thomas was very disappointed after that match. And this disappointment clearly shows how involved he is in his work and how much he – just like the rest of us – wanted to get another win. But it is not our responsibility to comment publicly on the coach's criticism. Thomas is his own man.

You spoke about putting yourselves in the best-possible position going into the second half of the season. How important will it be to have the entire team available again?
Watzke: I don't want to beat around the bush: if in the autumn you lose a number of players who have established themselves as pillars of the team or new signings who have the potential to become such key figures, it's difficult to compensate for that – especially given the upheaval of the summer when 13 transfers took place and the average age of the squad became much younger. Almost all of the injured players have now returned to the team. Even Sven Bender has been able to train for the first time over the past few days. We hope this will give us lots of additional quality. The only bad news has been the hand injury sustained by our goalkeeper Roman Bürki. May I make a request at this point…

…of course...
Watzke: For the last five matches of the year, I hope that despite the disappointment of Frankfurt our fans continue to act as the team's 12th man and unconditionally support every single one of the players. The numerous discussions I had during the fan club Christmas party reinforced my belief that the BVB family really appreciates the major effort that this partly newly-formed team and the entire coaching staff are putting in. Before the season kicked off, we emphasised over and over again that we were expecting some setbacks from time to time given the upheaval of the summer and the fact that the squad became younger. At this point we have played 19 competitive games in the league, cup and Champions League, losing only three, and are still well-positioned in all three competitions despite the setbacks. I am completely convinced that the team will come back after the winter break more stable, powerful and successful than before.