Updated on 19/09/2022 at 12:02 pm
- Youssoufa Moukoko became a derby hero against Schalke with a strong push into the starting XI.
- Coach Edin Terzic now has a fundamental decision to make.
There are worse jobs than sitting on the program Sport1 “Doppelpass” less than 24 hours after the victory in Derby and chat with a sense of relief. Sebastian Kehl spent a comparatively pleasant Sunday morning, which could have been more restless if the match against FC Schalke 04 had turned out differently. Kehl was only a bit bothered by the debates about Youssoufa Moukoko.
His winning goal against Schalke brought Kehl the necessary composure and composure during his performance. But it also caused one or the other request to probe – and also fueled the debate about filling a post in attack at Borussia Dortmund.
BVB has a striker debate
Once again, Anthony Modeste came to nod Moukoko, coach
Modeste slipped on the field like a foreign body, barely stuck with his team in the eighth game in black and yellow and when he was involved in the game, he made a technical error or did not pass it to the team-mate. Modeste again accumulated some really weak numbers, only had 14 ball actions in more than an hour of play, made two harmless shots on goal, made a 50 percent bad pass rate and just barely won every third duel.
Modeste is now helping his team more – to put it a bit exaggerated – when he reliably heads high crosses from his own penalty area. In his current basic skill, after eight games, there is still only one goal.
That’s why BVB now have a striker dispute to deal with, the third in a few weeks. After the departure of Erling Haaland, the search for a successor was a big problem. With Sebastien Haller’s illness, in turn, his substitute. BVB has had him in the team for a few weeks, but he can’t be satisfied with Anthony Modeste’s performance so far. Moukoko’s redemption goal in a difficult match, which also means victory in the Derby, now brings a completely different impetus to the public debate.
Modesty can hardly find its way around
“We have repeated different variations, and when Modeste then plays as a classic striker – we have already significantly increased the number of our crosses. From time to time we may miss a little chance at the far post, “Kehl at least tried do in a “one-two” on Sunday break a little lance for the unfortunate Modeste. However, the lack of luck alone is not the problem, and it should not escape Kehl himself.
Modeste does not move particularly well, he does not put himself in a good position with crosses, which would allow for a reasonably clean shot. It should be clear to everyone involved that the 34-year-old lacked the initial and final pace before he was signed. With the lack of self-confidence, however, there are now also many small technical errors and the feeling that Modeste does not really fit in this speed-oriented team at the moment.
And when young, agile, fast players like Moukoko or Karim Adeyemi, who also came as a substitute, storm on the field and take the fans with their first smooth action, there is an extreme selectivity in Modeste’s performance before. And now, with Moukoko’s goal, a real discussion about whether or not the 17-year-old should start in the next few games.
Terzic’s special relationship with Moukoko
“Today we had him where we want him: in the box where the goals are scored. We are very happy that he is our derby hero today,” said coach Terzic about Moukoko after the match. Halfway through the season, Moukoko scored twice as often as Modeste and later revealed that “there was an anger in my stomach because I wanted to play from the beginning”.
Moukoko could turn his anger into positive energy against Schalke, but often enough before the young fell into too much action. Channeling this energy and directing it in the right direction is likely to continue to be the most important work for the player and his coach. “There is no player with us that I talk more often than with him,” Terzic explained the special relationship with Moukoko.
“He is a player in a phase that needs to be guided,” said head of sports Kehl. “Of course Youssoufa has high expectations. He was the best youth striker Borussia Dortmund had and yesterday he wrote the next story as the youngest derby goalscorer. So one superlative after another. But he is only 17 and he needs time.”
Contract extension with Moukoko? Very optimistic
Time that both parties will also need in the negotiations for a new contract. Moukoko’s contract expires after the season, in recent months there have been skirmishes and slight friction between BVB and the player’s side. “We are still the right club for him, he thinks so too. We know him and we have a lot of confidence in him, the coaches know him,” Kehl remains optimistic.
“We have been in talks for a long time, he is all very confident and close. It is important for him to know that he knows that there is a club that counts on him. We want to continue with Mucki. (Moukoko, editor’s note) extend and continue the story. In the end, of course, some other framework conditions are also allowed. We don’t need public for this, we will manage it. Management of expectations is very important, if it is never played from the beginning then you enter a conflict situation. The next sporting steps are decisive for him.”
Him too:
Moukoko is “very close,” Kehl continued. In the next game after the international break, the 17-year-old would prefer to be right in the middle of it instead of just there. The chances for this are certainly not worse, but the next game is not any game either: Borussia has to go to 1. FC Köln. And putting Anthony Modeste on the bench against his former club would be the maximum penalty.
Sources used:
- bvb.de: “… the sweetest point we can have”
- Sport 1: The Stahlwerk double pass from September 18, 2022 with Kehl
Big concern for Marco Reus: The national player of Dortmund may have suffered a serious injury in the 181e derby of the district against Schalke 04. The 33-year-old twisted his right foot in a duel and had to be carried from the field on a bed after long treatment. BVB coach Edin Terzic was furious. One hoped that Reus would finally end his long medical record, especially in this year’s World Cup.