FM15: Borussia Dortmund - BVB will rise again

[Larsson1888]

Welcome to the Borussia Dortmund Thread

History

Foundation and early years

The club was founded on 19 December 1909 by a group of young men unhappy with church-sponsored Trinity Youth, where they played football under the stern and unsympathetic eye of the local parish priest. Father Dewald was blocked at the door when he tried to break up the organizing meeting being held in a room of the local pub, Zum Wildschütz. The founders were Franz and Paul Braun, Henry Cleve, Hans Debest, Paul Dziendzielle, Julius and Wilhelm Jacobi, Hans Kahn, Gustav Müller, Franz Risse, Fritz Schulte, Hans Siebold, August Tönnesmann, Heinrich and Robert Unger, Fritz Weber and Franz Wendt. The name Borussia is Latin for Prussia but was taken from the Borussia beer from the nearby Borussia brewery in Dortmund. The team began playing in blue and white striped shirts with a red sash, and black shorts. In 1913, they donned the black and yellow stripes so familiar today.

Over the next decades the club enjoyed only modest success playing in local leagues. They had a brush with bankruptcy in 1929 when an attempt to boost the club's fortunes by signing some paid professional footballers failed miserably and left the team deep in debt. They survived only through the generosity of a local supporter who covered the team's shortfall out of his own pocket.

The 1930s saw the rise of the Third Reich which restructured sports and football organizations throughout the nation to suit the regime's goals. Borussia's president was replaced when he refused to join the Nazi Party, and a couple of members who surreptitiously used the club's offices to produce anti-Nazi pamphlets were executed in the last days of the war. The club did have greater success in the newly established Gauliga Westfalen, but would have to wait until after World War II to make a breakthrough. It was during this time that Borussia developed its intense rivalry with FC Schalke 04 of suburban Gelsenkirchen, the most successful side of the era (see Revierderby). Like every other organisation in Germany, Borussia was dissolved by the Allied occupation authorities after the war in an attempt to distance the country's institutions from the so-recent Nazi past. There was a short-lived attempt to merge the club with two others – Werksportgemeinschaft Hoesch and Freier Sportverein 98 – as Sportgemeinschaft Borussia von 1898, but it was as Ballspiel-Verein Borussia (BVB) that they made their first appearance in the national league final in 1949 where they lost 2–3 to VfR Mannheim.[citation needed]

First national titles

Between 1946 and 1963, Borussia featured in the Oberliga West, a first division league which dominated German football through the late 1950s. In 1949, Borussia reached the final in Stuttgart against VfR Mannheim, which they lost 2–3 after extra time. The club claimed its first national title in 1956 with a 4–2 win against Karlsruher SC. One year later, Borussia defeated Hamburger SV 4–1 to win their second national title. After this coup the three Alfredos (Alfred Preißler, Alfred Kelbassa and Alfred Niepieklo) were legends in Dortmund. In 1963, Borussia won the last edition of the German Football Championship before the introduction of the new Bundesliga to secure their third national title.

Entry to the Bundesliga

In 1962, the DFB met in Dortmund and voted to finally establish a professional football league in Germany to begin play in August 1963 as the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund earned its place among the first sixteen clubs to play in the new league by winning the last pre-Bundesliga national championship. Losing club 1. FC Köln also earned an automatic berth. It was Dortmund's Friedhelm Konietzka who scored the first-ever Bundesliga goal barely a minute into a match which they would eventually lose 2–3 to Werder Bremen.

In 1965, Dortmund captured its first DFB-Pokal. In 1966, Dortmund won the European Cup Winners' Cup 2–1 against Liverpool in extra time with the goals coming from Sigfried Held and Reinhard Libuda. In the same year, however, the team surrendered a commanding position atop the Bundesliga by losing four of their last five league games and finished second, three points behind champions TSV 1860 München. Ironically, much of 1860's success came on the strength of the play of Konietzka, recently transferred there from Dortmund.

The 1970s were characterized by financial problems and relegation from the Bundesliga in 1972 and the opening of the Westfalenstadion, named after its home region Westphalia in 1974. The club earned its return to Bundesliga in 1976.

Dortmund continued to suffer from financial problems through the 1980s. BVB narrowly avoided being relegated again in 1986 by winning a third decisive play-off-game against Fortuna Köln after finishing the regular season in 16th place.

Dortmund did not enjoy any significant success again until a 4–1 DFB-Pokal win in 1989 against SV Werder Bremen. It was Horst Köppel's first trophy as a manager. Dortmund then won the 1989 DFL-Supercup 4–3 against rivals Bayern Munich.

Golden age – the 1990s

In 1992, Hitzfeld led Borussia Dortmund to a second place finish in the Bundesliga and could have won the title had VfB Stuttgart not won their last game to become champions instead.

Along with a fourth place finish in the Bundesliga, Dortmund in 1993 made it to the UEFA Cup final, which they lost 6–1 on aggregate to Juventus. In spite of this result, Borussia walked away with DM25 million under the prize money pool system in place at the time for German sides participating in the Cup. Cash flush, Dortmund was able to sign players who later brought them numerous honours in the 1990s.

Under the captaincy of 1996 European Footballer of the Year Matthias Sammer, Borussia Dortmund won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 1995 and 1996. Dortmund also won the DFL-Supercup against Mönchengladbach in 1995 and Kaiserslautern in 1996.

In 1996–97 the team reached its first European Cup final. In a memorable 1997 UEFA Champions League Final at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Dortmund faced the holders Juventus. Karl-Heinz Riedle put Dortmund ahead, shooting under goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi from a cross by Paul Lambert. Riedle then made it two with a bullet header from a corner kick. In the second half, Alessandro Del Piero pulled one back for Juventus with a back heel. Then 20-year old substitute and local boy Lars Ricken latched on to a through pass by Andreas Möller. Only 16 seconds after coming on to the pitch, Ricken chipped Peruzzi in the Juventus goal from over 20 yards out with his first touch of the ball. With Zinedine Zidane unable to make an impression for Juventus against the close marking of Lambert, Dortmund lifted the trophy with a 3–1 victory.

Dortmund then went on to beat Brazilian club Cruzeiro 2–0 in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup Final to become world club champions. Borussia Dortmund were the second German club to win the Intercontinental Cup, after Bayern Munich in 1976.

21st century and Borussia "goes public"

At the turn of the millennium, Borussia Dortmund became the first—and so far the only—publicly traded club on the German stock market.

In 2002, Borussia Dortmund won their third Bundesliga title. Dortmund had a remarkable run at the end of the season to overtake Bayer Leverkusen, securing the title on the final day. Manager Matthias Sammer became the first person in Borussia Dortmund history to win the Bundesliga as a player and manager. In the same season, Borussia lost the final of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup to Dutch side Feyenoord.

Dortmund's fortunes then steadily declined for a number of years. Poor financial management led to a heavy debt load and the sale of their Westfalenstadion ground. The situation was compounded by failure to advance in the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League when the team was eliminated on penalties in the qualifying rounds by Club Brugge. In 2003, Bayern Munich loaned €2 million to Dortmund for a couple of months to pay their payroll. Borussia was again driven to the brink of bankruptcy in 2005, the original €11 value of its shares having plummeted by over 80% on the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange). The response to the crisis included a 20% pay cut to all players.

Fans at the famous Südtribüne (English: South stand) in Signal Iduna Park

The team still plays at Westfalenstadion, named after its home region of Westphalia. To reduce debts, the stadium was renamed "Signal Iduna Park", after a local insurance company, in 2006 under a sponsorship agreement that runs until 2016. The stadium is currently the largest football stadium in Germany with a capacity of 80,720 spectators, and hosted several matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, including a semi-final. Borussia Dortmund enjoys the highest average attendance of any football club in Europe, at 80,478 per match (2010–11).

Dortmund suffered a miserable start to the 2005–06 season, but rallied to finish seventh. The club failed to gain a place in the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play draw. The club's management recently indicated that the club again showed a profit; this was largely related to the sale of David Odonkor to Real Betis and Tomáš Rosický to Arsenal.

In the 2006–07 season, Dortmund unexpectedly faced serious relegation trouble for the first time in years. Dortmund went through three coaches and appointed Thomas Doll on 13 March 2007 after dropping to just one point above the relegation zone. Christoph Metzelder also left Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer.

In the 2007–08 season, Dortmund lost to many of the smaller clubs in the Bundesliga. That season was one of the worst in 20 years. Nevertheless, Dortmund reached the DFB-Pokal Final against Bayern Munich, where they lost 2–1 in extra time. The final appearance qualified Dortmund for the UEFA Cup because Bayern already qualified for the Champions League. Thomas Doll resigned on 19 May 2008 and was replaced by Jürgen Klopp.

Return to prominence

Borussia Dortmund players celebrate winning the Bundesliga in 2011

In the 2009–10 season, Dortmund qualified for the UEFA Europa League and finished fifth in the Bundesliga. The team missed an opportunity to qualify for the Champions League by failing to beat eighth placed VfL Wolfsburg and 14th placed SC Freiburg in the final two matches of the campaign. Nonetheless, they demonstrated a renewed charisma and passion under the direction of coach Jürgen Klopp.

Entering the 2010–11 season, Dortmund fielded a young and vibrant roster which looked better. On 4 December 2010, Borussia became Herbstmeister (Autumn Champion), an unofficial accolade going to the league leader at the winter break. They did this three matches before the break, sharing the record for having achieved this earliest with Eintracht Frankfurt (1993–94) and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1997–98). On 30 April 2011, the club beat 1. FC Nuremberg 2–0 at home, while second-placed Bayer Leverkusen lost, leaving Dortmund eight points clear with two games to play. This championship equaled the seven national titles held by rivals Schalke 04, and guaranteed a spot in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League group stages.

One year later, Dortmund made a successful defense of its Bundesliga title with a win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, again on the 32nd matchday. By the 34th and final matchday, Dortmund set a new record with the most points—81—ever gained by a club in one Bundesliga season. This was surpassed the following season by Bayern Munich's 91 points. The club's eighth championship places it third in total national titles and players will now wear two stars over their uniform crest in recognition of the team's five Bundesliga titles. Notable names from the winning roster include Lucas Barrios, Mario Götze, Neven Subotić, Mats Hummels, Robert Lewandowski, Shinji Kagawa, Łukasz Piszczek, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Kevin Großkreutz, Ivan Perišić, and İlkay Gündoğan. The club capped its successful 2011–12 season by winning the double for the first time by beating Bayern Munich 5–2 in the final of the DFB-Pokal. Borussia Dortmund are one of four German clubs to win the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double along with Bayern Munich, 1. FC Köln, and Werder Bremen. The club was voted Team of the Year 2011 at the annual Sportler des Jahres (German Sports Personality of the Year) awards.

Borussia Dortmund ended the 2012–13 season in second place in the Bundesliga. Dortmund played in their second UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich in the first ever all-German club final at Wembley Stadium on 25 May 2013 which they lost 2–1.

In the 2013–14 season, Borussia Dortmund won the 2013 DFL-Supercup 4–2 against rivals Bayern Munich. The 2013–14 season started with a five game winning streak for Dortmund, their best start to a season. Despite such a promising start however, their season was hampered by injuries to several key players which saw them stoop as low as fourth place in the table, and with a depleted squad could only go as far as the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League losing 3–2 on aggregate to Real Madrid. Nevertheless Dortmund managed to end their season on a high by finishing second in the Bundesliga and reaching the DFB-Pokal Final losing 0–2 to Bayern Munich in extra time. They then began their 2014–15 season by defeating Bayern Munich in the 2014 DFL-Supercup 2–0. However, this victory would not be enough to inspire the squad to a solid performance at the start of the ensuing season, with Dortmund recording various results such as a 0–1 loss to Hamburger SV, a 2–2 draws against both VfB Stuttgart and Bundesliga newcomer SC Paderborn. After 13 matches in the 2014–15 season, Borussia Dortmund officially fell to the bottom of the table.

[Larsson1888]

The Stadium

The stadium is officially named Signal Iduna Park under a sponsorship arrangement lasting from December 2005 until 2021, giving naming rights to the Signal Iduna Group, an insurance company. The older name Westfalenstadion derives from the former Prussian province of Westphalia, which is part of the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia. It is one of the most famous football stadiums in Europe and was elected best football stadium by The Times for its renowned atmosphere.

It has a league capacity of 80,720 (standing and seated) and an international capacity of 65,718 (officially seats only). It is Germany's biggest stadium and the seventh biggest stadium in Europe, as well as the third-largest stadium home to a top-flight European club (behind only Camp Nou and the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu). The stadium established the European record in average fan attendance in 2004–2005 with a total of 1.354 million fans. The stadium broke this record in the 2011–2012 season with almost 1.37 million spectators. Sales of annual season tickets exceed 50,000. The Südtribüne (South Bank) is the largest extant terrace for standing spectators in European football; it is regularly full to its 24,454 capacity. Famous for the intense atmosphere it breeds, the south terrace has been nicknamed "Yellow Wall". The Borusseum, the museum of Borussia Dortmund, is located inside the stadium.

[Larsson1888]

General Details

Club Legends

August Lenz (player), Lothar Emmeirich (player), Aki Schmidt (player)

Club Icons

Dede (player), Miachael Zorc (backroom staff), Lars Ricken (backroom staff), Norbert Dickel (backroom staff), Ottmar Hitzfeld (manager)

Favoured Personnel

Wolfgang de Beer (backroom staff), Stefan Reuter (player), Matthias Sammer (player), Jan Koller (player), Jurgen Klopp (manager)

Derbies

Revier Derby vs Schalke, Borussen Derby vs Gladbach, der KlassikerDerby vs FC Bayern

Fierce Rivals

Schalke (local)

Other Rivals

FC Bayern (competitive)

Finances

Kits

Honours

Season Expectations From Board

[Larsson1888]

Squad Analysis

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Defensive/Deep Midfielders

Attacking Midfielders

Strikers

Injuries

Jakub Blaszczykowski - Currently receiving treatment for damaged cruciate ligaments. Expected to be out for 3-7 weeks.

Nuri Sahin - Currently undergoing treatment for knee tendonitis. Expected to be out for 4-5 months.

Ilkay Gundogan - Currently undergoing treatment for a lower back stress fracture. Expected to be out for 2-3 months.

Marco Reus - Currently receiving treatment for torn ankle ligaments. Expected to be out between 6 weeks and 3 months.

[Larsson1888]

reserved for tactic analysis

[DirtyJoe]

deleted comments

[PitchPosh]

To be fair, there's already been more work done on this thread in a day than the last one saw in a month.

Here's to hoping it is seen through!

[Bigpapa42]

Unless the squad gets nerfed in the winter update, they are capable of challenging Bayern for the Bundesliga right from the start. The injuries leave depth as a concern but you really don't have any overt weaknesses. Immobile is serviceable in the game (he could get nerfed, based on his performance). They still look to be a fun club to run. Had a great season with them on FM 14 where I won everything and did it in style. Definitely gonna give them a try at some point on FM15.

[Gandy]

To be fair, there's already been more work done on this thread in a day than the last one saw in a month.

Here's to hoping it is seen through!

Just hope he doesn't cop a tooth ache or whatever the excuse was

[DirtyJoe]

Just hope he doesn't cop a tooth ache or whatever the excuse was

I jumped the gun there :confused:, so heres to a good thread

[little_devil]

How's everyone doing? I've just finished my first season winning the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal.

Players out: I was compelled to sell Subotic to Man City before the season had even started ... not nice, and I only received £14 mil

Players in: Adama Traore (2.5); Horvath (1.7); Vallejo (675k); Balanta (7); Asheim (250k); Niklas Stark (5); Odegaard (1.3). All of these players loaned out apart from Balanta who went straight into the first team.

I managed to go on a 31 match undefeated run on route to the league win even avoiding defeat to Bayer using a formation with three attacking midfielders and a single striker.

Start of the second season hasn't gone so well with defeat to Bayer in the Supercup.

Transfers in: Gil Romero (7.25); Tielemans (10)

Out: Jojic, Arsenal (23); Ji Dong-Won, Valencia (10.75); Mkhitaryan, Juventus (34); Jonas Hofmann, Hoffenheim (6.25).

I've still got a budget of £93 mil but I'm not in a rush to buy anyone just yet as I'm going to have to replace Weidenfeller soon and don't want to unbalance the squad with too many new signings.

[hibbit]

very good thread looking forward for the tactical analysis. Playing Dortmund right now and need some inspiration regarding the tactics.

[james_wilko]

A tactical analysis coming any time soon?

Planning on starting a Dortmund save, thinking of going for a wide 4-2-3-1. Not sure whether I'll play Kagawa or Mkhitaryan behind Immobile, but think it'll be Reus left & Blaszczykowski or Aubameyang on the right. Kampl will be Reus' back up.

I'm thinking -

Weidenfeller

Grosskruetz - Subotic - Hummells - Schmelzer

Bender - Gundogan

Aubameyang - Kagawa/Mkhitaryan - Reus

Immobile

Or perhaps a 4-4-1-1 with Blaczcykowski on the right in place of Aubameyang, with means I could put Mkhitaryan in CM with Kagawa as a playmaker behind the striker.

[Quinby]

A tactical analysis coming any time soon?

Planning on starting a Dortmund save, thinking of going for a wide 4-2-3-1. Not sure whether I'll play Kagawa or Mkhitaryan behind Immobile, but think it'll be Reus left & Blaszczykowski or Aubameyang on the right. Kampl will be Reus' back up.

I'm thinking -

Weidenfeller

Grosskruetz - Subotic - Hummells - Schmelzer

Bender - Gundogan

Aubameyang - Kagawa/Mkhitaryan - Reus

Immobile

Or perhaps a 4-4-1-1 with Blaczcykowski on the right in place of Aubameyang, with means I could put Mkhitaryan in CM with Kagawa as a playmaker behind the striker.

In the new update Auba is a natural striker but on previously patch was excellent as a WG A at AMR.

Mkhitaryan was a stand out at AMC as AP over Kagawa.

[james_wilko]

Is he? Attribute wise it looked like Kagawa would be the best playmaker.

Game started, first thing I've done is extend a number of first team players contracts. Now the likes of Bender, Hummels, Subotic have contracts until 2019.

Next up was selling Piszczek to PSG for 16mil. Want to give Passlack a good number of first team games this season so rather than have two high quality fullbacks in his way, I've moved him on. 16mil for a 29 year old is also great business.

Robbie Kruse has been signed for 4.7mil from Leverkuesen to give a bit more depth on the wings.

Pre seasons has gotten off to a solid start. Beat Dortmund II 3-0, two goals from Aubameyang who's playing AML at the moment and one from Immobile set us up well. Next up was an away game to Chivas who we beat 3-1, they took the lead through De Nigris before Kampl Aubameyang and Jojic scored to give us the win.

[james_wilko]

Struggling to pick between Subotic and Sokratis. Subotic has the better mentals, but Sokratis physicals seem better.

I'll be playing a high line so I feel like I should have one of Subotic or Hummels alongside Sokratis.

But then Subotic's heading & height make him a good threat from corners.

[Jean0987654321]

Play them both?? Make Sokratis a DM/CM??

[james_wilko]

Then he'd be replacing one of Bender/Gundogan/Sahin (whichever is playing) and that's not happening.

Sokratis has ended up number one CB alongside Hummels. Not on purpose, I just keep forgetting to switch Subotic in

[james_wilko]

The sheer number of complaints from players is ridiculous. I'm up to 25/11/14 and in that time I've had Durm, Kagawa & Kampl whine about first team football at least twice. PEA has complained he wants to go to Liverpool, and a few players have whined when I've given one of the three original complainers a game thinking I'm bowing to their demands when in reality I'm just rotating the squad to keep people fit.

Other than that, things are going great. We've only lost twice so far this season, away to Bayern (1-0) and away to Chelsea (2-1) after Blaszczykowski was sent off. We've battered everyone else pretty much.

We're top of the league with 33 points from 12 games, and second in our Champions League group behind Chelsea after 5 games with 10 points. It would have been 12, but we threw away our winning position V Chelsea to draw 1-1 at home. Not happy about that, but it happens.

Immobile has been great, with 20 goals in all competitions from 19 games. Blas has 7 from 7(3) games, PEA 6 from 10(7) and Reus has 4 from 12(1). Assist wise, Mkhitaryan has 8 in 16(3), Immobile has 6, Blas has 5, as does Reus and Jojic (from 12(6)). So both goals and assists are well spread out across the team, which I can't complain about.

Special mention to Sven Bender, who is averaging over 11 tackles per game from his 16 games so far. A consistent 7.26, and he's even chipped in with an assist. He's great at what I need him to do, just wish he'd stop getting booked so often. Already had 1 red card and 7 yellows so far, so I'll need to look into a solid deputy in January. He's been a major part of the defence that's kept 12 clean sheets so far this season and we do look weaker without him.

In January, if Liverpool are still after PEA I'm going to aim for 20-30mil for him. Aim for 30, but I'll take lower. I don't want to waste my time on players who don't want to be here. I'll use that money to buy a back up LAM & CDM to cover for Reus & Bender. If there's enough left over I might try and sign a decent striker as a 3rd option, but I'm looking forward to having Ducksch back who looks a potential prospect to take over from Immobile.

[james_wilko]

Season one finished with a cracking treble; Bundesliga, Super Cup & German Cup (smashed Hoffenheim 4-1 for that).

We also made it to the final of the Champions League, being beaten in extra time by Barcelona 2-0 after Bender got himself sent off. We were crap in general, but thought we could have hit them on the counter. Wasn't to be though, so better luck next year.

Special shout out goes to the following players :-

Name - Games - Goals - Assists - Ave Rating

Immobile - 50(1) - 40 - 14 - 7.48

Reus - 41(1) - 24 - 13 - 7.54

PEA - 30(12) - 21 - 11 - 7.42

Bender - 44 - 0 - 1 - 7.39 (averaged 14.02 tackles per game)

Hummels - 50 - 5 - 0 - 7.31 (consistent, helped us get 24 clean sheets last season)

In the summer I've had a little bit of an overhaul. My main issue last season was a lack of quality in depth, so I've taken steps to fix that.

Out went:

Gundogan - 50mil to Man City (release clause)

Kagawa - 17mil to Monaco (rarely played/poor when he did)

Sokratis - 15mil to Liverpool

Blaszczyowski - 18 mil to Arsenal (he was good, but PEA is better and 18 mil for a guy about to turn 30? Easy choice)

Durm - 15mil to Atletico (Constantly complaining and I don't like wrong footed fullbacks so out he went)

Ramos - 3.9mil to BMG (crap)

Kruse - 4mil to Olympiakos

Kirch - 400k to Olympiakos

So £122mil into our budget. To replace them in came:

Reid - Free from West Ham (back up)

Paul Pogba - 50mil Juve (First choice - I had money to burn and they were willing to take it, who'd turn down the best midfielder in the game for that price?)

Sergi Roberto - 1.9mil from Barcelona (squad)

Julian Brandt - 20mil from Leverkusen (squad to replace PEA as the AMR & a quality young German player too)

Janujaz - 26mil from Man Utd (between him and Mkhitaryan for first choice CAM, but down as rotation)

Timo Horn - 6.75mil from Koln (squad, soon to replace Weidenfeller, another potential quality young German)

Contento - 2.8mil from Bordeaux (back up)

Polanski - 2.4mil from Hoffenheim (back up - improvement on Kirch/Kehl as Bender's back up)

Timo Wener - 7.5mil from Stuttgart (rotation - one of the best young German players, reckon he'll be my number 1 striker in a season or two)

Not bad.

[Gungner]

Has any of you succesfully gotten Marco Reus to sign a new contract?