Enlarge image
Mo Dahoud is one of the strongest at BVB at the moment
Photo:
LEON KUEGELER / REUTERS
Mahmoud Dahoud's late goal was no reason to freak out this time.
In contrast to the victory in Frankfurt, when the national player scored the decisive 3:2 for Borussia Dortmund in the final minutes, he scored against SC Freiburg to make it 5:1, which was no longer significant.
The next three points are in BVB's account after a performance that was very convincing in 75 of the 90 minutes.
That was a good step towards sustainability, which coach Marco Rose had demanded after the narrow success at the start of the new year and previously poor to very poor performances.
The next tasks are tricky to difficult.
First up is the DFB Cup at FC St. Pauli, then the Bundesliga with games at TSG Hoffenheim and against Bayer Leverkusen.
Mahmoud Dahoud, who is called "Mo", has been meeting the demand for sustainability for almost a year.
At BVB, he is one of those who is very likely to experience the kick-off on the pitch, and often the final whistle too. «Mo is a very fine footballer who can turn things up in tight spaces, who can solve one-on-one situations and your game accelerated," said Rose on Friday evening, and the coach also certified "strategic skills".
Advantage over Witsel
Dahoud plays in the center of midfield, so these skills are required, as well as sharp passing and good tackling.
Axel Witsel, who blocked a place in the starting eleven at BVB for a long time, has it all.
But the 33-year-old Belgian lacks the dynamism of a Dahoud.
Dahoud turned 26 on New Year's Day.
Before he gave Erling Haaland one of his two goals against Freiburg with a precise through ball, Dahoud won two duels.
Immediately afterwards, the eyes went straight ahead.
That fits Rose's desired style, while Witsel all too often turned a squiggle after winning the ball, played across or back, wanted control, especially in his fading time as a regular player.
That was more in line with Lucien Favre's style.
Favre was a coach at BVB for two and a half years from 2018 and thus from Dahoud, with whom he had already shared times in Mönchengladbach.
Dortmund paid more than ten million euros to the other Borussia in 2017.
The first year at BVB was okay for Dahoud, given that it was difficult for the club with a coaching change from Peter Bosz to Peter Stöger and pragmatic results football.
Difficult time under Favre
Things got difficult for Dahoud under Favre.
In retrospect, Rose believes: "Everyone who comes to Dortmund notices the ambitions here.
Maybe these players have to get used to the pressure first.” Dahoud “stayed on” and “worked diligently”, which is why he has been a regular player for a year now.
“In the past I haven't always been given a fair chance. I've often played well and then been put back on the bench for a few weeks," Dahoud looked back on the time under Favre in an interview with "Sport1" in May 2021, which he didn't want to go into detail about. Just this much: »In the end, the discussions didn’t make any sense.«
Edin Terzić followed Favre in December 2020. Under him, Dahoud was initially not used at all. After a dispute that the player denies to this day, he was even suspended for two games. A happy coincidence - Thomas Delaney stayed at home because he became a father, Witsel was injured - then brought about a change for the better in February 2021. Dahoud started in the Champions League round of 16 at Sevilla FC, coming back from a quick deficit and producing a superb performance in the 3-2 win.
Since then he has been one of the Dortmund professionals who stand out with consistently good or at least decent performances.
Maybe also because Terzić, like Rose, accept the Dahoud guy, who said on "Sport1": "I like tricks.
Football thrives on these aha moments.
We're not in the office.
You can't be too serious in life.
We footballers are a bit banana in the head.
To tunnel someone, that's cool.«
Only two internationals
From time to time this urge can still be seen in Dahoud, but basically he is the serious strategist with dynamism, to whom former national coach Joachim Löw once predicted that “the future belongs to him”.
Two international matches in autumn 2020 are only on the books for Dahoud, who was born in Syria and whose parents came to Germany with him a few months after his birth.
In the national team, a veteran blocked a place in midfield for a long time.
Toni Kroos announced his departure after the European Championships in summer 2021.
The new national coach Hansi Flick called Dahoud into the squad when he was first nominated, but did not use him.
For the international matches in October and November, the Dortmunder was out of the question because of an injury.
The World Cup year began with Dahoud's 26th birthday.
Flick's recommendations have been made, even as a goalscorer.
Two goals against Frankfurt and now against Freiburg – that's just as many as Dahoud scored in the 81 previous Bundesliga games for BVB.