Hallo Sven. Hallo Neven. Later Ivan...

Two Unstoppable Machines

It was an eventful day for BVB, despite still being the early stages of pre-season training in Spain. Two key players signed important contract extensions while another moved on, albeit after Dortmund turned about a 2 million Euro profit on him (Perisic was originally signed for 5.5 mil but rumors seem to say that Wolfsburg bought him for around 7.5--a savvy deal for an unhappy player indeed). 

Never really got it or understood what it meant to play for BVB...Ivan, kann you smell vat die Klopp is kooking? Also, do notice an attentive Moritz Leitner :)

Dortmund's biggest criticism in their recent successes has been that they are not a "big" club that can offer big players much to stay on and will lose all of their players to "bigger" clubs (when BVB regularly has the highest average attendance in all of Europe, these discussions of so-called "bigger" clubs come into serious doubt). In much of the discussion surrounding BVB this year, reporters and the media are often ill-informed so let's take a quick look at the numbers: 

Hummels, Kuba, Schmelzer, Pizczek, Bender and now Subotic have all signed extensions. That is over half of the starting eleven (7). As Grosskreutz and Reus are clearly dedicated to the Dortmund cause, with no need to mention where Roman Weidenfeller's heart lies, there is really only uncertainty surrounding one player: Lewandowski. Dortmund have successfully managed to not only secure the signatures of their best players, but also their most important business assets. With clubs like Man U, Chelsea, Juventus, and Liverpool already adding to their ranks of strikers, it seems unlikely that LewanGOALski would give up a guaranteed starting position and hero status for the bench by moving to a "big" club (i.e. Torres at Chelsea, Berbatov at Man U, etc.). The media frenzy surrounding Dortmund players has been annoying, and at times, ridiculous. In the words of Watzke, "Which player who has left us is happier now? Shinji, Barrios, Sahin? No one."

These two guys could kick your ass for sure.

And then chuckle about it....

That said, Dortmund have now lost another player--Ivan Perisic, a player with a lot of potential in attack, wonderful technique, and good pace--who it must be said never really fit in at BVB. It is bittersweet. Admittedly, he is a good player who despite not playing all that much, managed to score a good number of goals (9 goals in 42 matches for BVB, only about a dozen starts). Personally, I will admit to liking the way he plays, and his Arsenal goal will forever be in my memory, but I didn't like the way he complained about playing for the best team in the world--especially when it was better for THE TEAM that he did not play because of his inability to defend with the same tenacity as a Grosskreutz or a Kuba. Klopp cited this as a main reason for his lack of playing time in previous months, as he still needed to develop his defensive positioning. But it was only when he criticized the genius Jurgen Klopp's coaching style that I lost respect for him. How can you question his methods when you look at the turnaround he made? And anyway, thanks to him, you went from playing in Belgium to scoring goals against English champions on the European stage and becoming a Bundesliga Champion--as opposed to playing in Jupiter (or the Jupiler Pro League or whatever it's called). This was just another example of the modern trend of players not being loyal to clubs but instead looking only at their individual and personal successes, using clubs as stepping stones. If you learned anything from your time at Dortmund, it should be that YOU NEVER WALK ALONE...and while this can be interpreted as a message of support for players from the fans, it should also serve as a reminder of players' commitment to Borussia Dortmund and its unique supporters. While I am sure that Perisic can be successful elsewhere in the Bundesliga and Europe, the way he publicly criticized Dortmund has left a sour taste in my mouth.

Frustrating.  It's all downhill from here...ask Mladen Petric.

It is reminiscent of a former attacking player from Croatia who also foolishly left Dortmund. After leaving BVB in 2008, Mladen Petric stated he wanted the chance to play in Europe--so for some reason this meant moving to Hamburg. In a hilarious turn of events, I remember Dortmund pummeling Hamburg a few seasons later and watching a frustrated and ineffective Petric laboring around the pitch (I am pretty sure former BVB Deutschermeister Guy Demel was somewhere around that day too). Dortmund then went on to lift 3 trophies shortly after his departure, also playing consecutive seasons in Europe, while Hamburg continued to play like Hamburg and not play in Europe. Funny enough, Petric has since moved to a cottage known as Craven somewhere in London, and is playing for the prestigious club Fulham, whose best ever finish was 7th place and they have only ever competed on a European stage 3 times, one of them being in the Intertoto Cup and another only because they qualified for this year's Europa League through "fair play". Let's hope that the departure of another Croatian will also mark an upturn in the fortunes of BVB. 

Cao Ivane, moving down in the world. Have fun at Wolfsburg, a mediocre club. Don't ever talk shit about BVB or Jurgen Klopp--you'll end up playing Landesliga Fussball soon...

Real professionals keep comments to themselves and win trophies.   Bender looks high.  Neven, what did you give him, you rockstar? We all saw how wild you get when you were dancing on your car... :p

A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO NEVEN SUBOTIC, ONE OF THE FIRST PLAYERS BROUGHT BY JURGEN KLOPP 
IN 2008, AND TO SVEN "MANNI" BENDER, AN UNSTOPPABLE MACHINE IN MIDFIELD FOR BORUSSIA, FOR YOUR CONTINUED DEDICATION TO AND SUPPORT OF THE BVB CAUSE. TRUE BORUSSEN--we love you guys. Echte liebe. Prava ljubav. Real love.  

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Fur Immer BVB

P.S. The void left by Perisic on the sub bench could be filled by youngsters such as Leitner, Bittencourt, or Amini or it could pave the way for a Sahin return. Comments? Thoughts? The transfer saga continues...