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Good morning, Fear the Wall.
I simply cannot believe that Borussia Dortmund managed to take a game that should have been completely meaningless, and somehow turn it into a disaster. If they had lost 1-0, or by a similarly close scoreline, I really wouldn’t care too much, but to lose 4-0 at home to Hoffenheim? That’s simply unacceptable.
Dortmund Players React
Several BVB players and staffers had to face the media following the match. Roman Bürki, who has never been afraid to speak his mind, lambasted the team’s effort against Hoffenheim, contrasting BVB’s mentality with that of Bayern Munich.
We have to work on our winning mentality, Bayern have that more than we do. It is precisely these points that are missing in the end to be at the top.
If it weren’t for Bürki, the scoreline easily could’ve been worse than 4-0. Axel Witsel also spoke to the media, criticizing the team’s lack of defensive cohesion:
It wasn’t enough without the ball. We all have to defend together. With just a few players running and defending, it’s hard to win a game.
A lot of folks have blamed Lucien Favre for the team’s lack of mentality, but Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke doesn’t think the coach deserves the blame.
Lucien Favre took us to back-to-back second place finishes and he is still under contract. He deserves a chance to kill the rest of the prejudices that exist towards him in the media.
Werder Bremen Make the Playoff
Fortuna Düsseldorf and Werder Bremen went right down to the wire in the fight against relegation. Werder Bremen entered match day 34 down two points, needing a win and a Düsseldorf defeat to leapfrog into the relegation playoff spot in 16th place. Not only did Werder Bremen get their three points, but they did so in emphatic fashion, smashing FC Köln 6-1. Meanwhile, Fortuna Düsseldorf lost 3-0 to Union Berlin, sliding into the guaranteed relegation spot. Bremen will now face Heidenheim in the playoffs next week, with the hope of defeating the 2. Bundesliga upstarts and remaining in the Bundesliga next season.
The Daily Buzz
I don’t even know why I’m asking this, but do you agree with Watzke that this defeat isn’t on Favre, but the players?