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Dortmund to mull over issues

Ross DunbarDecember 21, 2014

A disastrous first half of the season came to an end with a defeat at Werder Bremen. Now Jürgen Klopp has time to assess where Dortmund went wrong and how they can avoid the very real threat of relegation.

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Fußball 1. Bundesliga Werder Bremen vs. Borussia Dortmund
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Jaspersen

Had it not been for a last-minute equalizer from Joselu, Borussia Dortmund would have been spending this Christmas at the foot of the Bundesliga for the first time in their history.

Jürgen Klopp's team went down toothlessly by two goals to one at the Weser-Stadion - the club's 10th defeat of the season, three more than the whole of last term.

But after a reported meeting lasting several hours with senior club officials on Sunday morning, it was agreed that the 47-year-old Klopp - who helped Dortmund win back-to-back titles - would remain as the head coach come the restart of the league season next year.

Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, according to German sports magazine kicker, 'firmly believes' that the club will get out of their current plight together.

It leaves Klopp and his players six weeks to regroup before the second half of the season begins away against Bayer Leverkusen on January 31.

As several key players slowly make returns to full fitness, Klopp remained defiant that the team will rebound and improve for the second chunk of fixtures.

"Today is a tough day for all the people who care about Borussia Dortmund," Klopp said after the defeat on Saturday. "But this club will prevail. There's a chance things will get better, and I still believe that will be the case."

Werder Bremen players celebrate
Even strugglers Bremen took all three points on Saturday against DortmundImage: Reuters/F. Bimmer

"The season isn't over yet. We still have 17 games to play and most importantly, we will have an almost complete squad going into the preparation," he added.

Time to iron out problems

The winter break will allow Dortmund the time to welcome back players from injury, while reassessing the squad's fitness.

The pedestrian nature of Dortmund's football and the team's vulnerability to swift transitional play are clear reflections of the underlying conditioning issues in the squad.

Recently, Ilkay Gundogan and Nuri Sahin have recovered from injury and Klopp was finally able to field his first-choice back-four for the first time since the 2013 Champions League final.

However, he's still without match-winning forwards like Marco Reus and an in-form Henrikh Mkhitaryan who are important to the fluidity of Dortmund's game.

Performances at home have been resurgent lately, but the defeats to relegation rivals Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen have acted like a damaging blow to the already fragile confidence within the squad.

No guarantees for BVB

"There is no guarantee things will improve," Mats Hummels told German newspaper "Bild" after the game in Bremen.

"We have had the worst half to the season anyone could have imagined. The worry has been considerable for weeks and the way we are playing, we are right down there," added the captain.

"We should manage to get everyone fit during January's winter break, then we can show a different side when we have our best 15 or 16 players," said Hummels defiantly.

Klopp has never shied away from the realities of the 'relegation battle' facing his team, one once again considered Bayern Munich's closest challenger this season.

At the halfway mark, there's a 30-point gap between the pair. "The fact that we look like complete idiots on the pitch serves us right," remarked Klopp after the defeat to Werder.

The hope among Dortmund fans, perhaps even some Bundesliga fans, will be that the defeat in Bremen serves to be the wake up call, if there was any need for one.