Hans-Joachim Watzke: “I Can no Longer Defend This Team”

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke loves his team, and is often the first person to defend the players and the coaching staff following disappointing results. While he’s very defensive of the squad, there’s only so much he can take, and this weekend’s disappointing loss to Eintracht Frankfurt was the final straw. According to Ruhr Nachrichten, Watzke lambasted the team’s effort.

I’ve always defended the team, but I can’t do that for the game against Eintracht Frankfurt. In a match like this, we have to show a different postured and a more determined attitude. Everyone has to see that we want to leave the field as winners and defend our goal with all our might. I missed that. It’s question of will, and the team disappointed me immensely.

BVB’s sporting director Michael Zorc also criticized the squad, especially its lack of clinical finishing and decision making.

I expect a lot more. We didn’t meet our own standards, made far too many mistakes... we had to keep chasing, ruining promising attacks with very unclean passing play, and made technical blunders.

It looks increasingly unlikely that BVB will qualify for the Champions League next season, so Watzke and Zorc will have their hands full refitting the squad and preparing to make another run for the top four. They should focus on bringing in players who will be able to rise to the occasion and perform in big games, so that results like this weekend’s aren’t repeated in the future.