Five reasons Lucien Favre is the right man for Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund's appointment of Lucien Favre came as no great surprise, but what will the former Nice strategist bring to the table and why were BVB so darn keen? bundesliga.com explains it all...
1) He plays the kind of football Dortmund adore
Jürgen Klopp set an exceedingly high standard in his seven years at Dortmund, underpinned by (i) his self-styled 'heavy metal football' (attacking hard and fast) and (ii) his fabled 'Gegenpressing' (attempting to regain possession as soon as the opposition has the ball).
When Thomas Tuchel came in, he refined Dortmund's approach in line with his penchant for a more possession-based game. BVB players, hierarchy and fans alike had no complaints, until Peter Bosz - arguably a victim of his own success at Ajax the year before - took charge in summer 2017.
The Dutchman lasted less than six months, his absurdly high line shipping goals by the bucket load and his preferred 4-3-3 formation one-dimensional at best. Peter Stöger steadied the ship, but his system - although pragmatic - lacked the energy and panache BVB, as a club, had become so accustomed to pre-Bosz.
Enter stage right, Favre. The Swiss guarantees dynamic attacking football (think Klopp), but not at the expense of his defence (Stöger the Sensible). There's also a touch of Tuchel's Pep Guardiola-inspired possession game in his blueprint for turning heads.
4) He gives youngsters wings to fly
A sympathetic man manager, Favre's track record of developing youngsters is no less exemplary.
At Zurich, he handed 19-year-old Blerim Dzemali the captaincy. At Gladbach, he didn't think twice about throwing an 18-year-old Marc-Andre ter Stegen in at the deep end.
Arsenal's Granit Xhaka, Dortmund's Mahmoud Dahoud and Gladbach's Christoph Kramer also blossomed on his watch.
Imagine what he's going to do for Christian Pulisic, Jadon Sancho and the rest of BVB's prodigious young guns...
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