Niko Kovač

Yes, it's big, but this is the marquee match for the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Sometimes we see Niko Kovac, the coach for Dortmund, do some annoying shit where they really play defense and camp out in the back.

But the way Stuttgart have been going, they're giving up goals in bunches.

And...

So we've got a bit of time still left.

But, but Niko Kovac with new signings-

Yeah

...

And that is the, that is the, the crux of all their summer spending and the kind of great hope of new creativity within the side.

So Niko Kovac has been forced into a bit of a rethink.

Has brought Fabio Silva, um, into the side.

Silva, who has been sort of having a little bit of an internal rivalry with Serhou Guirassy.

He's crap.

Why would, why does anyone want to buy him? Uh, Nico Kovac has not ruled out the possibility of-- sorry, has ruled out the possibility of signing Jadon Sancho.

Sancho has held talks with multiple Premier League clubs.

Yeah, I suppose.

Like, I mean, from the 2020, uh, 2019-20 onwards, there was a good chance that if you went to Bayern Munich and you tried to really play football and you tried to really g- get in, get under their skin and, like, really press and really, uh, you know, even if you left spaces behind, you would have a shot at actually getting something out of that game.

That was consistent under Niko Kovac, under Hansi Flick, under Julian Nagelsmann, and even under Thomas Tuchel.

Now, under Kompany, Kompany has made it so that if you play even slightly open against him, he will punish you.

He will completely crush any chances you have of, like, just tr-Trying to fight back.

For Dortmund, we saw familiar faces and some new additions.

Niko Kovac fielded a team that included new signings Joey Veerman and Konstantinos Karatsas, with Ethan Nwengri who'd been instrumental in their recent comeback victory, starting on the bench and leading the line for BVB was none other than Sir Hugh Gursey, a man who knows how to find the back of the net, especially against this Villarreal side after bagging the first two in that fixture last season.

Villarreal countered with their own strong Roman XI, featuring the experienced Santicama Sana as captain and the much-talked-about Mikitads leading their attack alongside Alu Waisi and Buchanan providing the wit.

Now, to the action.

But man, that is a tough blow for them.

Niko Kovac was starting to get some players who fit the mold of what he's looking for, and unfortunately they both are at least down for a period.

It's, it's very, very tough if you are a Dortmund fan to look at that and accept it.

Now, I think even despite those losses, Dortmund has shown the ability to create chances, but I think what Kovac is gonna want from this game is a little bit more control, not let it develop into something wild.