Match Ratings: Dortmund Rebound Against Berlin

Dortmund won the frustrating way, holding onto a narrow lead until the final whistle despite a slew of attacking chances. There were several standout performances that deserve recognition, and some other players who have shown after four matchdays are not up to snuff.

Without further adieu, here are Dortmund’s player ratings for round 4 of the Bundesliga.

Starting XI

Gregor Kobel

Zac: 8.5

Kobel produced several enormous saves to protect his clean sheet, tipping an especially spicy effort from Marco Richter onto the crossbar. Definitely a shout for MOTM.

Patrick: 8

Lars Pollmann said it best:

While Dortmund’s attackers squandered all but one chance Gregor Kobel kept things under wraps in the back. He only had to make three saves, but each of them denied wonderful shots from Hertha players. Sure, it wasn’t anywhere close to Yann Sommer’s heroics against Bayern Munich, but it did the job.

Yash: 8.5

Mats Hummels

Zac: 6

Fine but not excellent. Hummels was nowhere to be found when Berlin was able to counter (no pace left in him), but he was strong in the tackle and in reading play when defending in a lower block. Good distribution from the veteran as well.

Patrick: 5.5

He didn’t do anything wrong except being old and slow, which is somewhat of an expectation when he plays at this point. It’s obvious that, despite his age, he is still a really smart player and can do a lot when Hertha’s players aren’t running in behind him. That being said, they spent the entire game running in behind him.

Yash: 6

Nico Schlotterbeck

Zac: 7.5

Schlottigott strikes again with another mammoth performance. Sometimes my eyes deceive me and I see prime Neven Subotic when Schlotterbeck is on the field; I have a feeling the same happens to Mats Hummels.

Patrick: 8

Schlotterbeck is a very good defender. His passing is fantastic, he reads plays well, and he’s just such a physical presence. What is more amazing, though, is that he does it all while looking like someone Niklas Süle bullied in high school.

Yash: 7.5

In this center-back pairing, Hummels is the brain and Schlotti the enforcer. Another excellent showing.

Raphaël Guerreiro

Zac: 5

This may be a controversial take because it was not his worst performance ever, but I thought Guerreiro was pretty dreadful. Poor crossing, poor decision-making on the attack, and several turnovers.

Patrick: 7

Guerreiro has one of the best left feet on the team if not in the league. His crosses, however, would tell you otherwise. I don’t think he was terrible outside of his crossing. Was fine defensively, completed half his ground duels, and was involved in some good offensive plays. Still, it felt like he would rather come in and occupy the same space Reus, Brandt, and Bellingham, who all want to play in rather than run down the left flank and cross to Tony. Not sure who is at fault for that though.

Yash: 6.5

Clearly not used to the more direct full-back role he was asked to play today, but looked good in combination and did not put a foot wrong in defense.

Marius Wolf

Zac: 6

Better than last week, still best as a substitute. Meunier should return next weekend to provide better service to Anthony Modeste.

Patrick: 6

Wasn’t quite #UnleaseTheWolf today. Was more of a #SlightlyLoosenTheWolf’sLeashAndWatchHimRunUpAndDownTheField kind of day. Not quite as catchy.

Yash: 6.5

Salih Özcan

Zac: 8

Absolutely stalwart. Strong in the challenge, composed, disciplined, and chipped in with an excellent assist. I’m not sure a defensive midfielder can have a better debut.

Patrick: 9

I like this guy. I spent that entire game thinking, “How do we fit him, Bellingham, Dahoud, and Reus in midfield together?” It’s evident that Terzic put him in front of the defense to shield the back line but he still had the tenacity to say “I’ll do it myself” after seeing Dortmund’s attacks fizzle out. So far, it looks like Özcan is the defensive midfielder we’ve needed for a season and a half now.

Yash: 8

Tough, tenacious, and disciplined. Filled a Mo-sized hole in the midfield, and bagged an assist. More of the same, please.

Jude Bellingham

Zac: 6

This is harsh but in his 3rd season, it is time to start holding Jude to a higher standard, with love of course. Jude was excellent in transition, making key challenges and carrying the ball forward on numerous occasions to relieve pressure on the defense. His finishing, however, was woeful given the opportunities he had, and he needs to sharpen up this aspect of his game or pick his head up and pass. €100 million market values come with the same €100 million criticism I gave players like Sancho and Haaland.

Patrick: 8

Zac has lost it. Bellingham was good today! He was given a bit more freedom to progress the ball in the absence of Dahoud and the introduction of Özcan. He did that well and continued to be one of the team’s attacking catalysts.

Yash: 7.5

Jude only knows one speed: breakneck. He was an absolute demon in the midfield, winning tackles, and setting up counter-attacks. His poor finishing may have kept Hertha in the game, but it was an otherwise impeccable performance from the Englishman.

Marco Reus

Zac: 7

Creative, but too generous. Have a damn hit, Marco, don’t you know you’re trying to break a record?!

Patrick: 8

Felt like all of Dortmund’s promising moments, except the goal, flowed through Reus. I do agree with Zac though, hit the ball in the net! It’s all I want in life.

Yash: 7.5

Central to pretty much all our attacking play, but he’s got to shoot more.

Karim Adeyemi

Zac: 5.5

A really difficult day for the young German, who was often undone by the slick pitch or bad timing. His foot also clearly still hurts. We have not yet seen full force Adeyemi, but his tenacity and athleticism are coming through clearly.

Patrick: 6

He wasn’t great today but I love this guy. He’s got a great attitude and obviously has the skills. As Zac said, he’s getting into good spots but is just slipping up or missing the timing. One thing I’ll say, and continue to say until it gets better, is his finishing is rather poor for a forward.

Yash: 5

Not a good day at the office for Adeyemi, but he doesn’t look fully fit yet. I love his mentality and willingness to work, though.

Julian Brandt

Zac: 6

Looked very promising in the first half only to fade into nothing in the second.

Patrick: 5

It’s always a game with Brandt. You either get good Brandt or bad Brandt. Today was bad Brandt. It’s obvious he wants to go inside and play centrally but by doing so, he occupies the same space Reus does. This often leads to him collecting the ball somewhere out wide, dribbling inside 30-40 yards from goal, and then playing a horizontal pass to a fullback.

Yash: 7

Devil’s advocate here: Brandt was actually very good. Looking at the numbers, he created the most chances, completed the most crosses, won 60% of his duels, maintained an 89% pass accuracy rate, and made 8 ball recoveries. His off-the-ball movement was phenomenal as well. However, I’d struggle to rate him higher because of those two weird lapses in concentration in the first half.

Anthony Modeste

Zac: 8

YES TONY. After taking a lot of criticism during the week, Anthony Modeste needed something to silence the naysayers. Terzic is trying hard to explain what a cross is to his wingers, but it seems our defensive midfielder has been the only one listening. Modeste will not mind.

Modeste 7:

He got the goal! He celebrated with Terzic! We won the game because of it! Besides that, I felt like he should've scored one or two more. He’s at his best when getting crosses in from the box and leave it to his former Köln teammate to realize that. Still, it’s important for either Dortmund’s wide players or Modeste himself to adapt their game. The crosses are poor and Modeste without crosses is poor.

Yash: 7.5

Much improved. His early miss had me worried, but it looks like he’s getting used to being more involved in the build-up phase, and he scored a lovely header to boot.

Substitutions

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens

Zac: 6.5

Better than last week! JGB made some attacking “stuff” happen when he came on and was rewarded with a firm bonk on the head. He will feel that one in the morning.

Patrick: 5

Bonk!

Yash: 5.5

So much better than last weekend. Definitely should have scored late on, but his directness really unsettled the tired-looking Hertha defense.

Niklas Süle

N/A

Keep making those cameos, big man. We need you at 100% quickly.

Thomas Meunier

N/A

Thorgan Hazard

N/A

Overall

Zac: 6.5

Today, BVB was too wasteful to earn any higher rating for the game. This was a critical win no doubt, and with Bayern Munich dropping points, Dortmund had no room for error. But Dortmund’s inefficiency in front of goal will cost them dearly against better opponents, and this is already the second instance of this we have seen. BVB’s attackers could have buried about 10 chances against 1860 Munich but walked away empty-handed from the second half. Call this an Erling Haaland hangover, but the ball needs to get into the back of the net.

Patrick: 6

It pains me to say it but Zac is right. It’s obvious that Dortmund is struggling to find goals despite playing with an actual striker, a problem they haven’t had to deal with in a while. Our midfield remains our strongest area of the game and, as I said earlier, Terzic should find some way to play Reus, Ozcan, Dahoud, and Bellingham together when they’re all fit. I don’t care how it happens, I just want to see it happen.

Yash: 6.5

This game was a step in the right direction. The first half looked a little disjointed and uninspiring at times, but BVB really turned on the style in the second. The sloppy finishing notwithstanding, it was a good performance from the boys in black and yellow (and a win is a win, after all). Today’s team was pretty close to our best possible XI, so it was great to see how well they combined going forward. The goals will come in time.