62 – Outstanding Secret Weapon
062
Borussia Dortmund is a young team with an average starting lineup age of only 27.
Including rotation members, it drops to 26.
The club’s policy itself tends to prefer young and promising players, but there is also an inevitable aspect to maintain its unique intense tactical style.
Even after a long time since Jürgen Klopp’s influential ‘Gegenpressing,’ which dominated the era, its impact still lingered heavily on Dortmund.
As a team boasting the Bundesliga’s fastest tempo, Dortmund’s games inevitably accompanied intense physical exertion.
“Rodel! Back! Intercept their backward movement!”
As Dortmund’s attack progressed on the right flank, midfielder Rodel Ditz, who had joined from the opposite side at the shout of Joo Ji-tae, turned around, surprised.
Seizing that brief moment when Rodel Ditz’s gaze was fixed on the ball, Dortmund’s side midfielder Christian Falk slipped into the open space on the back.
As Rodel Ditz hurriedly chased behind, this time, Dortmund’s center-back Freddy Loekenhaus entered the space vacated by Rodel Ditz, creating another focal point with a strong shot.
When Munich’s forward, Stephan Bulse, faced pressure, Dortmund’s full-back, Jurek Lorberk, not only held him off but showcased an underlapping movement, surging forward like a midfielder. As Dortmund players, now freed by the movement, shifted to block this, they became the starting point for yet another attack.
In the relentless exchange of positions at a fierce tempo, both Munich and Dortmund found their defenses crumbling.
To stem the collapsing dam was the continuous torrent of instructions from the coach, Joo Ji-tae.
“Gunter, return to your original position! Stephan, drop down! Damn it, you’re between the center-backs! Berth! Stick with him, don’t lose him! Helmut! Hold your ground!”
For a professional player with a certain tactical understanding, finding the right position might not pose much difficulty. However, Dortmund had taken away everything: the tactical promises that could create a framework, the flexibility to assess situations, and the stamina and time to translate all this into action.
Constantly shifting positions disrupted the agreed-upon formations, and the intense tempo stripped away the judgment and stamina needed to perceive and respond to the situation.
A crumbling formation.
Tangled positions.
An unrelenting, intense tempo.
The notorious swarm football of Dortmund had begun.
“My ball! Joo, cover! Helmut, mark number 9! Rodel, come back!”
In such situations, what was needed were momentary judgment and concentration adaptable to the unfolding circumstances, along with robust physical endurance to execute it. These were considered Dortmund’s strengths.
Simply moving without thinking, chasing the ball and the opposing players blindly, players from Munich, who seemed to be keeping up well, began to falter.
If there had been just a bit of time to catch their breath, a moment to think, it could have been different.
Not much.
Just 2 to 3 seconds.
If only they had a brief respite, if only they had those 2 to 3 seconds to assess the situation, Munich players might have struggled to keep up with the tempo. Yet, those 2 to 3 seconds made the decisive difference in the success of a play.
No matter how much video analysis, image training, or drills were done, the difference in the quality of a player remained unbridgeable.
“Jan, come back! Berth, I’ll take care of the vacant spot, so stick with him!”
“Joo, I’ll cover! Matthias, back me up!”
And that was why, among the Munich players, Joo Ji-tae, the only one capable of faster judgment than Dortmund’s tempo, and Daniel Rout, the captain struggling to keep up with the tempo, couldn’t catch their breath.
“Blocked it!”
“Cleared!”
This was also the reason why Munich maintained a clean sheet amid the chaos.
“This time, perfect—Insane! Blocked it again!?”
“Wow! What’s with these guys! How do they only show up in such decisive moments!?”
Despite the constant shouts and demands of Ju Ji-tae and Daniel Rout, the dangerous situations that occasionally arose were thwarted by the super saves of the two.
In addition,
“There they are again! Stick to them!”
“Darn it! Why can’t we snatch it away?!”
Whenever Ju Ji-tae caught the ball, he displayed an overwhelming ball-keeping ability, even slowing down the tempo of play.
As the Munich players reached their limits, the Dortmund players had an intense desire to jump and skip around as they held onto the ball for an unbelievably long time, seemingly taunting their opponents.
Certainly, Dortmund seemed to have control of the game, but strangely, the tense rhythm of the match continued throughout the first half.
“Go that way!”
And then, in the first-half stoppage time.
In a situation that seemed almost impossible, the Dortmund players, who had expended more energy than planned, clenched their teeth and launched their final assault.
“Blocked—?!”
Dortmund’s ace duo, forward Marc Schmidt and playmaker Michael Lice, swiftly combined their skills, breaking through Munich’s midfield.
Jan Heinkel and Gunter Draxler, who were pressing, were left in the dust by Michael Lice’s La Croqueta, and even Daniel Rout, who was covering, was beaten by a simple 2:1 pass.
In the final moment of the pass, when Marc Schmidt’s trapping slightly bounced, Helmut Fox jumped out, but even that was a fake. An open chance was created as he was outpaced by the momentarily accelerating Marc Schmidt.
On the other side, as Ju Ji-tae approached with tremendous speed, Marc Schmidt quickly attempted a shot, but—
“Huh?!”
“Captain!”
In the final moment, Captain Daniel Rout threw himself in front, using his face to block the shot, thwarting even the comeback attempt, and the first half came to an end.
* * *
Hans Hessen, well-known as a gentleman off the field, was different on the pitch.
In the stadium, he became an intense and aggressive coach.
“Not good enough! Are you kidding me? What are you all doing?!”
Bang!
Hans Hessen’s angry fist struck the front panel. Seats clattered and shook.
“Focus, concentrate! The buildup is good. It’s great to advance all the way to the final line! But if you can’t finish, the previous process is useless!”
Anger is the most intense emotion, but it alone cannot win the game.
After pouring out his emotions, a strategy for victory must follow. Hans Hessen gripped the wobbly front panel.
“You all must have noticed, but on the left, there’s Daniel Rout—the defense is solid.”
Despite dominating the game throughout the first half, Ju Ji-tae and Daniel Rout thwarted them in crucial moments. So, let’s avoid that side.
“But the right is weak. In the second half, target Rodel Ditz, Helmut Fox, and Matthias on that side.”
Hans Hessen, who conveyed detailed tactical instructions, surveyed the players.
“They must have gotten used to the opponents during the first half, right? They’re not like Munich or Leipzig, who can bring about changes in the second half with noise! Go and attack fiercely!”
There was no significant change for the weak 1860 Munich squad.
Hans Hessen, who had hoped that, having become familiar with the opponents in the first half, they could determine the outcome in the second half, discovered a unfamiliar player on the field.
“Substitution…? No, more importantly, the substitute is… Allen Walker? Wasn’t he a midfielder? Why is he playing as a side defender…?”
[1860 Munich]
IN: Allen Walker
From Noble mtl dot com
OUT: Berti Meyer
At the start of the second half, Munich’s left-sided defender was substituted.
Allen Walker.
* * *
Daniel Rout is not originally an agile player.
If there is an advantage, it lies in his robust ball-keeping skills and decent passing ability that complement his physique.
Unfortunately, he was vulnerable to pressure after ball possession and ball carrying, and while he excelled in stable short passes, one couldn’t expect flashy passes or transition passes from him.
Of course, that’s why he’s playing for 1860 Munich; if he had been capable of ball-keeping, stable passing, and, in addition, pressure relief, ball carrying, and forward passes, he would have been playing for the neighboring Munich.
In short,
“Captain. Can you handle it?”
“I’m still okay.”
He doesn’t fit the type for a game with an intense tempo.
In the fast-paced situation, Daniel Rout was excessively sluggish. Fortunately, leveraging his veteran judgment, composure, and Ji Jeong-tae’s invisible assistance, he showcased unexpected contributions, but no one could help him match the tempo with the excessive physical exertion required.
“It’s a crucial moment. I know your heart, but honestly answer. Are you really okay?”
In response to Coach Wilhelm’s question, Daniel Rout closed his eyes for a moment, then faintly smiled and answered,
“…Until the 70th minute. No, I’m okay until the 75th minute.”
“Then, show your best performance until then.”
“Alright!”
Clap!
Coach Wilhelm’s gaze, clapping his hands, turned to Allen Walker quietly sitting in the corner.
“Soldiers. It’s time to counterattack! Let’s look forward to the performance of our energizer!”
It was a gaze filled with uneasy feelings despite the hearty voice.
Ju Ji-tae remembered Allen Walker as a player with many shortcomings.
In the first half, a player acquired to replace himself, as he had rejected a contract renewal.
However, lacking in technique, press resistance, build-up play, and creativity, he was a player who seemed to do nothing but “run a lot.” That was the first impression Ju Ji-tae had of Allen Walker.
But before their contract expired and they parted ways, Ju Ji-tae had one more impression of Allen Walker.
“A tenacious guy…”
He said.
Unintentionally muttering while watching the Dortmund player, Ju Ji-tae chuckled.
“Tenacious?”
“…Indeed.”
In place of Berti Meyer, Allen Walker, playing as the left-back, sprinted tirelessly.
When Dortmund launched an attack, he defended more passionately than anyone else, and in moments of counterattacks, he sprinted towards the opponent’s territory with an almost tireless determination.
It wasn’t just his enduring stamina that was tenacious.
Allen Walker was faster and more tenacious than expected, with a sharp and decisive “shot.”
And what was needed in this game was precisely that “shot.”
It was the same this time.
When Ju Ji-tae intercepted Dortmund’s pass in the middle, Allen Walker, who had been pressuring with all his might, immediately turned his body and ran towards the opponent’s territory to catch Ju Ji-tae’s pass that fell in front of him.
And, competing with Dortmund players to grab the ball, stumbling and crawling but still managing to get there first, the determination to catch the ball, and the unexpected out-front cross that sailed sharply towards Cho Jae-shin made even Dortmund’s ace, Mark Schmidt, smile in disbelief.
“An out-front cross from here. Not even Roberto Carlos.”
Ju Ji-tae expressed a positive response to the name of the master of out-front crosses, famous for the UFO shot.
“Maybe I can match up with him when it comes to out-front crosses.”
Mark Schmidt couldn’t help but scoff at the comparison with the legendary player.
Allen Walker’s sharp out-front cross hit Cho Jae-shin’s head and shook the net as it went straight into the goal.
“…Really an unbelievable trajectory.”
“Agreed.”
In the 63rd minute of the second half, the first goal finally erupted.
It was a goal for 1860 Munich.
