3 potential managerial replacements for Lucian Favre at Borussia Dortmund
With Borussia Dortmund struggling for results, sporting director Michael Zorc warned under-fire coach, Lucien Favre of the consequences, if there wasn’t an immediate upturn in form. Zorc told Funke Sport,
"Our situation is more than unsatisfactory. We are analysing things very intensively, but we are going into the game in Barcelona with Lucien Favre and expect to see a clear improvement in performance there."
Pressure has been building on the Swiss coach amid their poor domestic form. Five draws and two losses from their opening 12 fixtures see the club sit sixth in the Bundesliga.
A 4-0 thrashing at Bayern Munich two weeks ago was followed by a woeful display against bottom of the league side Paderborn, as Dortmund had to come from three goals down to rescue a draw in the second half.
According to Bild, sporting director Michael Zorc and CEO Hans Joachim Watzke held a crisis meeting after the game against Paderborn, during which it was decided that the Swiss coach would be given one final game to save his Dortmund career.
With yet another disappointing result against Barcelona, Favre’s long-term suitability as head coach will now come under tight scrutiny.
Therefore, let’s look at three potential options Dortmund could pursue in the event of Favre’s potential sack from the Signal Iduna Park.
#1 Roger Schmidt
The 52-year-old has been out of work since he left Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan in July 2019.
Schmidt was headhunted by Bayer Leverkusen after did the league and cup double with Red Bull Salzburg in 2014.
His brand of extreme and intense pressing football created waves in Germany, steering the club to successive top four finishes in his three years in-charge at Leverkusen.
Schmidt’s 4-2-4 pressing formation would fit in well with the personnel available in Dortmund's first-team squad. Undoubtedly, the clear front-runner for Favre’s job.
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