Peter Bosz will face Borussia Dortmund with PSV in the eighth finals of the Champions League on Tuesday evening, the club where he was fired in 2017 after 163 days. A look back. “We have not received enough support.”
Bosz chuckles when he is asked about his time in Dortmund prior to the Champions League match against his old team on Monday. “Then I would have to dig into my memory. I don’t remember much about it,” Bosz said at the press conference.
A little earlier he did speak out about his time in Signal Iduna Park. Bosz starts briefly about the 80,000 people in the stands, the famous Gelbe Wand and the people he still knows at the club. But Bosz does not seem to have a ‘special feeling’ for Dortmund.
It seems the same with Hendrie Krüzen, bosz friend of Bosz and service assistant in Dortmund, just like with Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, among others. “We had a great time. But it went so quickly that it has also been pushed into the background,” Krüzen told NU.nl.
After all, their joint adventure in Dortmund ended in November 2017, after a series of thirteen games with only one win, in a cup match against third division club FC Magdeburg (5-0). A home defeat against relegation candidate Werder Bremen (1-2) was the final straw. Bosz and Krüzen, who had only been working at the Signal Iduna Park for 163 days, were fired
It is the result of an unimaginable collapse, after Bosz had had an impressive start to the season with ‘Die Schwarzgelben’. Dortmund wins six of their first seven league matches and is top of the Bundesliga. The eight-time national champion also keeps a clean sheet in the first five competition matches for the first time in club history.
Hendrie Krüzen (right) with his best friend Peter Bosz, with whom he worked at Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Maccabi Tel Aviv, among others. Photo: Getty Images
Two hours of talking to journalists
It happens with hyper attacking full throttle football, just like how Jürgen Klopp led Dortmund to the last league title in 2012. Bosz is nicknamed ‘Der Bosz der Bundesliga’ in the German media. “Dortmund played interesting, modern and courageous football under Bosz,” says Dirk Krampe, a Dortmund watcher for years. Ruhr News.
“Bosz wanted to put even more pressure than success coach Klopp did with Dortmund. We were surprised, we did not expect that Dortmund would take him away from Ajax. Dortmund wanted Lucien Favre (who would come later, ed.) as trainer. But the people Here we loved the game under Bosz.”
Moreover, Bosz is popular with the German press. The Gelderlander speaks good German due to his time as a player at Hansa Rostock at the end of the last century, which allows him to convey his vision well. “His predecessor Thomas Tuchel was not very socially adept, but Bosz was very humble and friendly,” says Krampe.
“Someone who wanted to have conversations with us. I remember when he invited the press to a training camp in Switzerland for a conversation in preparation. We talked for two hours, just about everyday life. That was unthinkable under Tuchel. We had a very nice evening with Bosz.”
Peter Bosz with Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Photo: Getty Images
‘Players left it after the ‘Auba’ issue’
Although there is a lot of cheer at Dortmund in the first weeks of the season and at a certain point the team is five points ahead of the already unapproachable Bayern Munich, Krüzen sees that not everything is going well.
“We missed Marco Reus due to an injury in the first months of the season and then had even more injuries, lost Ousmane Dembélé to FC Barcelona and missed Matthijs de Ligt, who we wanted to take over from Ajax. And there was the issue surrounding Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, who has had a lot of influence,” says Krüzen.
The Gabonese is the top scorer in those days, but also someone who throws his hat at it, because he wants to force a lucrative transfer to China. Krüzen: “At one point he was almost always five or ten seconds late for meetings.” Bosz suspends the striker for one match. “We had to do something to remain credible. But we also accepted him back into favor. Perhaps we should have done that differently,” says Krüzen.
The current assistant coach of Heracles sees how Aubameyang’s behavior affects the Dortmund player group. “Players felt room to go against things. Take central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who had to play as a right back due to injuries. He didn’t want that. It seemed as if he let it go, just like more decisive players.”
“That could not be separated from the behavior of ‘Auba’. You cannot make it clear, but sometimes opponents walked past our players in a way that you thought: this could have been different. ‘Auba’ won in the derby against Schalke 04 (4-4, ed.) at 4-0 for a sudden red. That was also inexplicable.”
Peter Bosz in front of Dortmund’s famous Gelbe Wand prior to the derby against Schalke 04. Photo: Getty Images
Criticism of Bosz’s ‘naive’ style of play
That match will go down as the most bizarre Kohlenpott derby ever and the unofficial end of Bosz as coach of Dortmund. His team overcame Schalke in the first 25 minutes and took a 4-0 lead, but gave away the victory in the last half hour. “You are powerless watching from the sidelines. We already knew then that things probably wouldn’t turn out well,” says Krüzen.
Bosz is being criticized in the German press. His players were said to be overtrained and too tired in the second half. German former top footballer Lothar Matthäus also wonders whether Bosz can play with Dortmund as he wants and whether it is not too offensive. Krampe sees Bosz sticking to his way of playing.
“Opponents noticed how Dortmund played, but Bosz did not adapt. Maybe it was a bit naive. That’s how it was seen in Germany,” says Krampe. Among other things BILD is critical of Bosz. “The 4-3-3 system belongs to Bosz as much as cheese belongs to the Netherlands,” writes the German newspaper.
Bosz responded at the PSV press conference on Monday with a smile to the criticism of his playing style during his Dortmund time. “I didn’t learn anything from that and I’m still doing the same thing,” says Bosz. Krüzen also sees that his friend has not changed anything in his playing style.
“Peter now plays the same with PSV as he did back then and it is great now. At Dortmund it was just hosanna at the beginning and they wanted to extend for four or five years. I think the criticism is bullshit. What can you do about it if key players take a step?”
Peter Bosz (right) with Michael Zorc at the general meeting of Dortmund, where he had to defend himself against criticism from the supporters. Photo: Getty Images
Krüzen believes that Bosz deserved support
After the failure in the derby against Schalke, Bosz and Krüzen have to answer to about a thousand supporters at the club’s general membership meeting in the Westfallenhallen in Dortmund. Boos are heard when Bosz enters the stage. He is allowed to continue, but two weeks later he is seen again after two new disappointments.
Krüzen believes that Bosz deserved more support. “Especially from Michael Zorc (the then technical director, ed.). Peter did a really good job there, otherwise you wouldn’t have such a start in one of the best competitions in the world.”
“Zorc knew what was going on with ‘Auba’ and other players. He could have intervened, suspended or sold ‘Auba’ and perhaps other guys. Those guys earn huge salaries, you can expect something for that, right? But Zorc has listened to the players.”
Nevertheless, Krüzen does not feel any frustration about the period in the Signal Iduna Park with his best friend. “We enjoyed it. It was very nice, playing every home game in front of over 80,000 people. And Peter and I learned from this.
“I think Peter would approach the issue surrounding ‘Auba’ differently now. If a player did that at PSV, he would immediately kick him out. In that sense, that time in Dortmund has made him an even better coach.”
The Champions League match between PSV and Borussia Dortmund starts on Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. Dortmund, the current number four in the Bundesliga, is missing the injured former Ajax striker Sébastien Haller. The return in the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund is on March 13.
2024-02-20 05:37:24
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