What is wrong with modern fussball...what is right with Borussia Dortmund...

As a long-time Borussia Dortmund supporter, and a member of a fanclub full of other real Borussen, I must say, it is surreal to be a fan right now...

1. BvB MKE has been celebrating madly since the dramatic scenes that unfolded in Dortmund that day none of us will ever forget.  Members congregated to watch the match and were quiet in the final moments, even after the first last-minute goal, but subsequently went ape shit when Shitana scored...and have been goin' ape ever since.

Even as an irrationally, eternally optimistic Dortmund supporter, I must say I thought it was done and dusted and could barely continue watching my dreams slowly slip away, minute by minute.  Now, I can barely believe it is true that we are in the semis after being on the brink of elimination.  That said, surprisingly, all is not peachy being a Borussia Dortmund fan these days...

As much as I am happy that we are doing well--we are in the Champions League semifinals again, we are on the back of back-to-back Bundesliga titles, last year was the first ever Double in our famed club history, we continue to have the highest average attendance of any stadium in Europe (more than Barca and Real; most Bayern fans are only fans when the weather is nice so they don't really come close--no seriously, they are not even close in numbers), and of course we are turning huge profits annually (rare in the business of modern club football and massive player wages)--I am deeply saddened that we will not be able to field a team next season.

EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT BVB now, for better and for worse, and how we play the best style that anyone has seen since Barca...and now if we are to listen to them and the never-ending ridiculous media reports, then we are for certain losing our manager and most of our team, or at least the following players:

Klopp (to Chelsea, Real, German national team, everywhere)
Hummels (to Barca, Real, Manchester United or City, etc.)
Subotic (to Manchester United or City--apparently wasn't good enough to play for USMNT)
Pizczek (was linked at one point to Real around January)
Gundogan (recently Tottenham and someone else...hard to keep track of all the bull shit)
Reus (City, Chelsea, others--even though we just fucking signed the guy, it's his 1st season!)
Kuba (Liverpool was mentioned not long ago)
Grosskreutz (Liverpool, Arsenal)
Lewandowski (Juve, City, Real, and of course Bayern and Man U, every other day)
Shitana (reported to be in search of 1st team football--if you go to Gelsenkirchen it's over)
Shitze (Leaving in summer to...I honestly can't even say it, makes me want to vomit)

Why don't we throw in a Sven Bender who people are sniffing around to make it an even 11 (sic)--the logic just isn't there is it? Are you telling me that we are selling 11 of our starting players and our manager who turned our whole club around?

Here lies one of the first problems.  Most people who are reporting and/or commenting about Dortmund have no idea what they are talking about (this week some idiot on Goal.com or another site called Dortmund's larger-than-life Sudtribune the "fearsome Sudkurve"--embarassing to say the least, please don't mistake BVB for Hertha ever again, please).  I don't believe even half of what I have read about Dortmund players and all of the gossip is ridiculous and annoying, especially the most recent reports about Shitana and Shitze, probably a tactic by Mourinho to unsettle our players.  During the Euros, I read reports of Mats Hummels leaving.  These professional writers really do their research, because while Schweinie was on holiday somewhere warm preparing for a lousy tournament full of shocking under-performances and Jerome Boateng was playing with pornstars at hotels in the build-up to the Euros, Mats Hummels went to the paradise city of Dortmund for vacation in order to meet with Zorc and Klopp and sign a new long-term contract.  Reus, who we had just purchased (back) on a long-term deal and had not yet even played in our colors, was now allegedly attracting interest from all over Europe.  Where were these people when Uli Hoeness (elitist, tax-evading cheat) and all of his Bayern buddies were sulking over Reus snubbing them (they really REALLY wanted him) and opting instead to re-join Dortmund already? These are the same people who pronounced his name as "Roose" (rhymes with loose) and "Ray-us," somehow overlooking the proper pronunciation of one of the hottest names in the future of German fussball (simple English pronunciation as in "Rolls-Reus").

When Klopp came to Dortmund and began working with Zorc, the plan was formed to try to build a successful system that would run at least until 2016.  As successful as we have been together, would we really bail early on a plan that is working so well?  If one considers how financially successful we are and how stable we have become once again, then one would understand that Dortmund does not need to sell anyone.  We will only sell if astronomical fees are paid.  If someone says they will pay money, then you are required to do what they say?!? Sounds more like prostitution than fussball to me, but this is a problem of the modern game.  And the agents and club bigwigs and reporters all pimp their ho's as much as possible.

Dortmund proves itself to be better than Manchester City, still our players should move there?  Owners with lots of money can do lots of things.  How the World Cup ends up in a Qatari desert is a story for another day...

But this article isn't just about what is wrong in the game, it is also about what is right.  And what is right is the thing that most of the people who don't know Dortmund but can't stop talking about us don't seem to quite grasp: BORUSSIA DORTMUND IS DIFFERENT.

We are a big club, but not a big club.  We have won 8 German Championships, 3 Pokals, 4 German Supercups, 1 Champions Leauge, 1 Intercontinental Cup, and were the first ever German club to win a European title (not Bayern) when we lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1966.  We also became the first ever German club on the cover of FourFourTwo magazine in March 2013 (not Bayern).  Apparently some people still don't consider Borussia Dortmund a big club like others (Chelsea, City,  United, Liverpool, etc.), even though we are the 11th biggest club in the world, generating almost 200 million euros in 2012. Still, tickets are affordable for our fans (though prices are increasing) and BVB comes from a small industrial city, not Madrid, London, Barcelona, Munich.  If you go to Dortmund, you are only going for one thing: the greatest footballing spectacle you will ever experience in your lifetime. A journey to Der Tempel and the Sudtribune should be on every man's bucket list.

The Temple In All Its Glory: Meisterfeier (Champions' Party)

This is not a club of rich foreign investment.  This is not a club with fans who wear Black and Yellow one year and then sport the ugly Bavarian blue-white checker shit next year, depending on who is winning.  This is not a club who just goes and buys the best players from other teams (Sir Alex Ferguson was present in Berlin's Olympiastadion and watched the Pokalfinal in 2012 where Dortmund embarassed Bayern--this was Shinji Kagawa's last game for BVB and he has since wanted to also buy Subotic, Hummels, Reus, Gundogan, and Lewandowski--pretty sure Fergie was sitting in the Sudkurve because he would never be allowed in the Sudtribune). This is not a club you can compare to any other club.

Dortmund barely avoided bankruptcy in the last decade.  After losing Rosicky, Koller, Ewerthon,

Koller: A big beer for a big man

Amoroso, and many other important players, followed by a barren run of years without any silverware, our fans remained passionate as ever, with average attendance the highest in Europe.  Using a sustainable business model and living within our means, we developed our own quality youth players (Sahin, Shitze, Grosskreutz & Reus could be included as well) and made intelligent signings with great scouting and of course the help of the amazing Zorc.  Grosskreutz returned to BVB willingly and probably almost for free since he was still going to Dortmund games anyway while playing for Rot Weiss Ahlen and signing as a player meant free admission.  Schmelzer came on a free transfer from Magdeburg early in his career and has since broke into the national team.  Kagawa was plucked from the obscurity of the Japanese 2nd division (bought for only 350,000 and sold for much more).  Lewandowski was relatively unknown abroad before his move to Dortmund, even though he scored some sick goals in the Polska Liga.  Snapped up from Lech Poznan for a humble 4.5 million or so, he is now being talked about in the 25 mil range.  He sat the bench at first behind Lucas Barrios, also a clever signing, who had an unbelievable goalscoring record for Colo-Colo.  La Pantera had one of the best goal-scoring records around and was captured for a cheeky 4.2 million euros (we sold him to China for a little over double, a transfer record in China).  Pizczek was in Germany but also relatively unknown, coming on the recommendation of friend and Polish teammate Kuba.  Having played left back, holding midfielder, left wing and only then right back at Hertha, and even striker sometimes on loan back in Poland with Zaglebie Lubin, few (maybe only Zorc and Kuba) would have guessed that this player acquired on a free transfer would develop into one of the best right-backs in Europe. It is also relevant to note that Kuba himself came as a bit of an unknown from Wisla Krakow, after just breaking into the first team there a season or two before after a move from lowly KS Czestochowa (3rd league).  Dubbed by the legendary Boniek as "little Figo" at one point, this BVB-legend-in-the-making arrived for somewhere between 2-3 million.  Subotic wasn't good enough for the US team apparently, and he went to Mainz, worked his way up and then followed Klopp to Dortmund for around 4.5 million.  He has since quadrupled in value.  Mats Hummels wasn't good enough for Bayern Munich apparently, so they sold him to us for just 4.2 million.  We all know how good he is now (see funny video clip below).  With the calibre of these players at such bargains, 5.5 million for a young Ilkay Gundogan might have seemed a bit of a splurge at first, but now he is looking like the future of the German midfield.  I almost forgot to mention Sven Bender, bought for only 1.5 million Euros, now valued at around 14 million (see tranfermarkt.de).  Players like Leo Bittencourt could still prove to be great bargain signings as well...

[Klopp answers the reporter's question: Why did Bayern let a player like Mats Hummels go?]

Shitzelder = Traitor

And here we are today as a result...in the spotlight, a major topic of conversation in Champions' League discussion.  With our football know-how from the likes of Klopp and the under-recognized assistant coach Buvac, with our business savvy in Zorc and Watzke, and with our fanatic support inspired by ECHTE LIEBE, Borussia Dortmund will surely continue to survive, thrive, and succeed--regardless of who comes and goes.  The players should know what they have in this club, things that do not exist elsewhere. So if Shitana chooses to go to Gelsenkirchen and Shitze to Munich, then it would be okay in the ways of modern football, but not okay in the ways of BVB fans.  These players are already becoming legends in the Dortmund history books and are loved by all...but can become dead to us all in one false move. Ask Cristoph Shitzelder. Some people refuse to even say his name out loud ever again.

Shitzelder aka Shitze: DU SCHEIß VERRäTER--You Son Of A Shit Fucking Disgusting Traitor Judas Bastard Liar

So while players move from club to club without any loyalty these days, and while "big" clubs spend obscene amounts of money year-in and year-out, and while the media and agents instigate big money moves and high-profile transfers, and while everyone in the world is trying to buy every single one of our players who performs well (Bittencourt will be next), we have a chance to show the footballing world that we are different--that we can keep quality players not with money and excessively huge contracts but with real love and just some good fucking fussball.  Let's shut up all of this gossip and transfer speculation by beating Madrid over two legs (again) and showing to the world that there is no better place to play than BVB.  This could give some of our bigger players a reminder of why they should think twice before leaving the greatest club on planet earth...

Schmelle: Free Transfer from Magdeburg to scoring the winner vs. Real Madrid--forever a BVB legend.

PS Shitzelder is a douche...bag. And so is Shitze any player that follows in his footsteps.