The Bad

Well, it was consistent. That performance was inline with Dortmund away performances over the past two seasons. The players were all over the place and yet, somehow oddly hard to find. I barely saw Jobe on the ball and other than Sabitzer's superb cross on the Guirassy goal, I rarely saw him in the first half. The only midfielder that was having an impact was Groß but he was too far forward and too far wide for my liking. Guirassy even went deep into the midfield on a build up to try and make up for the lack of presence. As for the defense, Couto said over the post season that we have yet to see the best of him and after this game that is still true - Ryerson's absence was sorely missed. Mane... It's hard to fault him too much for his play. He shouldn't be starting but with the injuries at the moment we have no choice. I thought he did fine enough until he didn't. Now a red card and a penalty for his actions? That felt harsh but still, we were up 2 goals with 10 minutes left in the game - Why foul? Saint Pauli may have been lucky to get the 3 goals they did but they were equally unlucky in missing easy chances. Kobel had to bail out the defense with great saves multiple times. Kovac was also at fault with some odd decisions. The first was the positioning of Groß. Groß has been much more creative playing farther back and picking out great balls to start an attack. Where he was against Saint Pauli didn't give him opportunities to dazzle. Maybe the decision was to try and protect the rookie players behind him in Mane and Couto? I also didn't see a reason to sub off Adeyemi at half. I thought he was creating a lot of pressure with his speed down the pitch and even won a penalty. Now, Brandt did have a banger but it just should have been a Brandt for Jobe sub, moved Groß to the middle and played 3 up top. We were basically playing 3 up top anyway with Guirassy drifting to the middle and Groß playing as forward as he was. Guirassy missing penalties is another concern. He missed one at the Club World Cup and again yesterday. If it continues, we are in trouble. All in all - sloppy.

The Good

Even-though Dortmund's goals came down to individual brilliance and luck rather than cohesion, they were all great. It was great having Sabitzer back in the starting lineup. His attacking style, creativity, and quality balls into the box add another threat to a squad that really lacked in the final third last season. Brandt looked like his old self as well. Last season that shot would have been in the stands but the run, the control, the finish - amazing! The small bit of good team play was on Anton's goal. There was great passing and dynamic-ness in the box for the first - and only - time in the match. The goals Dortmund conceded came from silly mistakes. Svensson slipped and lost the ball, a penalty, and then a screamer with us down a man. Saint Pauli had better opportunities than the ones they scored but Dortmund's defense pulled it together at the right time - whether a Kobel save or timely clearance, somehow we kept it out. The defense bent a lot yesterday but last season we never bent, we just broke. There does look to be discipline and cohesion in the back. Considering only 2 of the 5 were starters, it's promising. So, players look to be in form and the defense looks to be coherent enough - if just barely.

Overall

Overall, disappointing start to the season. It'd be nice to not stress watching Dortmund up 2 goals away to a side like Saint Pauli but, given the history, I was and it proved again to be for good reason. Kovac had all offseason with this squad but he had it more figured out last season than he does now. I don't expect every game to be easy but there should be some that are and the last 25 minutes of this game should have felt easy. With the injuries we have and our history away the result is no surprise and I'm just happy we are walking away with any points.