{"id":14021,"date":"2026-08-08T08:44:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=14021"},"modified":"2026-08-09T17:25:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T16:25:51","slug":"its-time-to-find-fourth-gear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=14021","title":{"rendered":"It’s Time to Find Fourth Gear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund (BVB) provides our next preseason warm-up opponent and may represent a stiffer challenge than we have faced to date. Hopefully, we won\u2019t be as lethargic as we looked in Dublin against Betis. This is also the Grand Final of the 2026 Emirates Cup so there\u2019s silverware (of a sort) at stake!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BVB was founded in 1909 and the name Borussia (Latin for Prussia) was taken from the local Borussia Brewery – football fans appear to have the same interests the world over! The club boasts the second largest membership in Germany after Bayern Munich and allegedly the fifth largest club membership in the world. Wherefore art thou, Arsenal? BVB\u2019s Westfalenstadion is the largest stadium in Germany and contains the notorious Yellow Wall, and the club has the highest average attendance of any football club globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dortmund is the second most decorated German club (after you know who) with 8 Bundesliga titles, 5 DFB-Pokals (equivalent to the FA Cup) and 6 Super Cups (equivalent to the Community Shield). BVB slightly eclipses us in European competition, having won the Champions League in 1997, the European Cup Winners Cup in 1966 and the Intercontinental Cup in 1997 and being runners-up in the Champions League in 2013 and 2024 and in the UEFA Cup\/ Europa League in 1993 and 2002. However, their UEFA rank this season has slipped to 10th (Arteta\u2019s Arsenal has risen to 2nd behind Bayern Munich, but astonishingly above PSG and, unsurprisingly, above Real Madrid).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Jurgen Klopp departed in 2015, after delivering 2 championships, 1 cup and 2 supercups, BVB has been in a period of flux, appointing 10 coaches and picking up 2 cups and 1 supercup. Their last trophy was the cup in 2021 under interim coach Edin Terzi\u0107. The current coach is the Croatian legend, Nico Kova\u010d who was appointed 18 months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last season, was fairly disappointing for BVB who finished their usual 2nd in the Bundesliga, 16 points behind Bayern Munich, to whom they lost home and away. BVB was surprisingly knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in the \u2018round of 16\u2019 by Bayer Leverkusen and finished only 17th in the League Phase of the Champions League, missing the cut for automatic qualification for the Knock Out Phase then losing the play-off to Atalanta 4-3 on aggregate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over several decades, BVB have gained a justifiable reputation of developing world class players from a young age and selling them on to bigger clubs (usually Bayern!). Exemplars include Matthias Sammer, Mario G\u00f6tze, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking through their current squad, I don\u2019t see anyone in that class, but that may simply reflect my ignorance rather than a lack of talent. Few names stand out to me, but BVB does still have many experienced internationals despite wide forward Karim Adeyemi, creative midfielder Julian Brandt and defensive midfielder Salih \u00d6zcan leaving this summer and centre back Niklas S\u00fcle retiring. Nico Schlotterbeck and Emre Can have not yet taken part in pre-season due to injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Goal<\/strong>keeper<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gregor Kobel, first-choice Swiss international goalkeeper, played all league games last season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three other keepers didn\u2019t get a look in: Patrick Drewes, Silas Ostrzinsky and Alexander Meyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nico Schlotterbeck, German international central defender and vice captain; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waldemar Anton, German international centre back\/right back; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramy Bensebaini, Algerian international left back\/centre back;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joane Gadou, 19, newly signed, French U-19 international centre back, 19.5m Euros; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julian Ryerson, Norwegian international fullback\/wing-back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Svensson, Swedish international fullback;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luca Reggiani, 18, Italian international defender. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midfield<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emre Can, experienced German international and team captain; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jobe Bellingham, England U-21 international defensive midfielder; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Felix Nmecha, press-resistant, box-to-box German international midfielder; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carney Chukwuemeka, Austrian international attacking midfielder\/left winger<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcel Sabitzer, Austrian international midfielder\/winger\/second striker;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Konstantinos Karetsas, 18, marquee signing, Greek international playmaker\/winger, 30m Euro, slated to replace Brandt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin Lerma, 18, newly signed, Ecuadorean U-20 international playmaker; 4m Euros;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mussa Kaba, 17, newly signed, German U-17 international defensive midfielder; free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attack<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Servo Guirassy, Guinean international central striker, 22 goals last season;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maximilian Beier, German international forward, second striker\/winger; 10 goals last season;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuele In\u00e1cio, 18, newly signed, Italian international forward\/attacking midfielder; free;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

F\u00e1bio Silva. Portuguese international forward; ex-Wolves; underwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kovac\u2019s Dortmund is known for a pragmatic, direct, defence-first playing style, centred on a reliable back-three, aggressive physical duels and wing-orientated attacking overloads with fluidly rotating wing-backs and attacking midfielders in a disciplined 3-4-2-1 structure. Kova\u010d prioritises game management and structural discipline over attacking flair, utilising an intense, high-energy press to force turnovers in the opponent\u2019s half. Winning the ball back triggers direct, vertical counter-attacks into open space. Guirassy is the focal point of the attack and acts as a target man but also drops deep to open up space for Beier or inverted midfielders and the Guinean is the primary target for dead-ball situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund have faced each other eight times, always in the group stage of the Champions League and only this century. We first met in 2002, winning 2-0 at home then losing 1-2 away. Nine years later, we met again, drawing the away game 1-1 and winning the home game 2-1. Two years on, we didn\u2019t do so well, losing 1-2 in London but winning 1- 0  in Dortmund. Only a year later, in 2014, we lost 0-2 away, winning by the same score at home. Thus, our head-to-head record stands at 4 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This game against Arsenal represents BVB\u2019s fifth pre-season friendly, so once again we can expect to face a team that is probably fitter and more match sharp than we are. Since 18 July they have beaten RW Oberhausen 3-1, and D\u00fcsseldorf 2-1, lost to Cerezo Osaka 0-1, and beaten FC Tokyo 1-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I expect that BVB, like Arsenal, will start their strongest team and replace them with multiple second-string players in the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who else might Mikel Arteta have available to invigorate the pedestrian performers from Dublin (I blame the Guinness!)? It\u2019s too early for Bruno Guimar\u00e3es to make his debut though he might be there to give the Emirates crowd a wave. The English and Spanish Gunners will still be lounging in the elite resorts of the world. I expect Gabriel and Martinelli to get more game-time than their Dublin cameos offered, perhaps 45 minutes, and \u00d8degaard, who joined training before Dublin, might get 30 minutes or so. With that in mind, and no more signings emerging, I expect the following starting XI, though I, personally, would start Meslier over Kepa and Havertz over Gy\u00f6keres but I don\u2019t have to manage the egos of slighted players who might have to be called upon during the season:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White Mosquera Gabriel Calafiori<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8degaard MLS Nwaneri<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dowman Gy\u00f6keres Tzolis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was unimpressed with our chance creation and finishing and the first half defending in Dublin. I don\u2019t expect a sudden epiphany, so I don\u2019t anticipate a high scoring game with multiple goals from the Arsenal. Meanwhile, Dortmund have lost much of their firepower and creativity over the summer and are bedding new signings into key roles. Therefore, I predict a 1-1 draw and an Arsenal victory on penalties!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COYG – it\u2019s time to find fourth gear!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund (BVB) provides our next preseason warm-up opponent and may represent a stiffer challenge than we have faced to date. Hopefully, we won\u2019t be as lethargic as we looked in Dublin against Betis. This is also the Grand Final of the 2026 Emirates Cup so there\u2019s silverware (of a sort) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14021"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14021"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14037,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14021\/revisions\/14037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}