Matthias Sammer, who officially functions as an external consultant to Borussia Dortmund’s front office and who sits at the table when big decisions among the higher-ups are discussed, revealed in an interview with Kicker, why Edin Terzic was chosen as the head coach for BVB’s rebuild.
“Of course it played a role that we already had someone at the club who brings a lot of what we want,” Sammer explained about the departure with Marco Rose at the end of last season, adding: “But it wasn’t the decisive reason for the coaching change, otherwise we could have made a more populist choice as soon as the knockout from the German cup [against St. Pauli] – but that’s not what the club stands for.”
Nevertheless, Terzic’s time at the helm as interim coach delivered enough evidence for Dortmund’s decision makers to believe that he is the right man — opposed to what Marco Rose had to show for after a full season.
“During Terzic’s first stint you could already sense that the team was shaped by the coach, players like Mats Hummels and Marco Reus rallied behind him during the more difficult periods,” the 1996 Ballon d’Or winner said. “But the most important thing was the development. A high dynamic against the ball, a certain compactness, attacking schemes and the positional play in possession were more and more evident.” And, “An important factor was to see that the team believed in itself despite a difficult starting position – and there were hardly any injuries despite a higher rhythm,” Sammer continued.
Dortmund closed their 20/21 Bundesliga season with a seven-game winning streak, that helped Terzic lead the team to Champions League qualification. The emotional highlight, however, was the DFB Pokal win against RB Leipzig.
(Photo by Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images for DFB)
