Football Season Guide

Last season saw the end of an era for Borussia Dortmund as popular manager Jürgen Klopp left the club after seven years in charge. Dortmund’s relative demise last season was one of the main talking points at the conclusion of the campaign, but few sides other than Bayern have managed to sustain success in the league over a long period of time. The man Dortmund have chosen to take them back to the top of the table is Thomas Tuchel who is one of the most highly rated managers in Germany. Before taking a year out last season his success with Mainz marked him out as being a real talent, mirroring the progress of his predecessor. It is rare that most of the media focus before a season is placed on the manager but this pre season for Dortmund has been all about the intrigue of what the new man will do with the team. Very few changes have been made to the squad other than to bring in the experienced Gonzalo Castro from Bayer Leverkusen who is proven at this level, whole Roman Bürki arrives to challenge for the number one spot as goalkeeper. In addition Julian Weigl has joined from 1860 München who is young promising player and two other midfielders rejoin after loan spells. Both Moritz Leitner and Jonas Hofmann will feel like new signings having missed most of last season and in the case of Leitner the last two. Sebastian Kehl has finally hung up his boots after an illustrious career while a few squad players have moved on. Early indications suggest that Bürki looks likely to be the number one at the start of the season with Roman Weidenfeller having to prove himself when he gets the chance. With a very similar squad to last year there will have to be developments in the tactics and team spirit within the squad. But Tuchel is known for doing both of these and hopes are high from the pre season form. By the time their league campaign starts BVB will have already had a couple of games in the Europa League and the first round of the cup match. Both should be quite easy for them which should give them a good start to the season. But the league will be their priority and how well they are doing in that competition could dictate how seriously they take the Europa League or cup. The latter stages of the Europa League should be a target for them though as they go into the competition as one of the higher ranked sides. With the likes of Mats Hummels and Marco Reus in the squad and walking in the footsteps of Jürgen Klopp, the pressure will be on for Tuchel from the word go. How he handles this and how well the squad adapts to his style of play will decide their fate this term.