The first half hour was sloppy, congested and had the overall feel of a pre-season friendly. Dortmund struggled right away to adjust to their new surroundings; Delaney and Dahoud juggled the responsibility of dropping between the center-back pairing of Abdou Diallo and Manuel Akanji to pick up the ball and progress into midfield. Reus wasn’t sure where to be, or where to look when he got the ball, and Bruun Larsen looked a bit shell-shocked to be even starting. Frankfurt, to Hütter’s credit, seemed to be very positionally aware for long stretches of the match. The visitors dropped into two banks of four, with Gaćinović and Haller taking turns pressing one of the Dortmund center-backs up top, while the other would man-mark Dahoud or Delaney. It was effective, and BVB was treading water, as is reflected by Diallo and Akanji dominating passing totals in the first half. The breakthrough came off a new, inspiring element of Dortmund’s game 36 minutes in: set pieces. Bruun Larsen whipped in a corner, which was — intentionally—left by Łukasz Piszczek and Max Philipp for Diallo to bundle home after a few tries. From a BVB perspective, it was refreshing to see some training-ground ingenuity being brought to the forefront.

It would take a half-time break and more, tedious football — with very, very few attempts toward a goal—before Frankfurt would pump some life into the game. The visitors equalizer came off a mistake, and some bad luck. Diallo, who did the right thing in clearing the ball first-time, unfortunately caught Marcel Schmelzer in the feet with his attempt. The ball ran out left and Danny da Costa, Frankfurt’s marauding right-back crossed it into Haller, who finished very well on the volley to make it 1–1. The small communication breakdown that followed the failed clearance by Diallo, then the inability of Schmelzer to block the cross, meant Dortmund needed to find some offense, quick.

BVB’s new number nine, Paco Alcácer, came on with just over twenty minutes to go for his debut, and immediately he changed the game. Last week, we identified Alcácer’s strong xGChain numbers, and he proved his worth right away by freeing substitute Jadon Sancho to gallop down the right wing with a sublime flick-on, before the teenager sent a cross in for Marius Wolf, who made it 2–1.

Alcácer, of course, wasn’t finished. Perhaps beginners luck, perhaps something more mystical, but the Spaniard saw the game off, cutting in on his weaker left foot and curling the ball—with the help of a slight deflection—past Kevin Trapp and into the Frankfurt goal. In those 23 minutes that Alcácer played, he completed eight passes and contributed 0.07 xGChain. In the 67 minutes Philipp played, the German completed nine passes and added 0.10 to Dortmund’s xGChain. Difference maker, as Opta might say.

Game, set, match. 3–1 Dortmund, and still undefeated.

The Eye Test

Well, hello there, Paco. There’s no denying it: Alcácer showed more in 23 minutes than Philipp has shown all year. Now, mind you, those are both incredibly small sample sizes. But unless Philipp can get firing, or just contributing quick, Paco is going to—and should be—starting very soon.

Reus was Dortmund’s worst player. That statement in itself is quite meaningless because he’s, usually, the club’s best player. But perhaps his off night was a message to Favre that his effectiveness is at it’s highest when he’s wide left, or at the minimum leading the line alone. That first, dreadful, period of the game was due in large part to Dahoud and Delaney looking at a man-marked Reus.

There’s no need to panic over Bruun Larsen, at all. It was a tough spot for him trying to run at a very quick da Costa, and he certainly, at least spatially, seemed to provide something. From what we know, and have seen of him, there’s a very good player in there who will battle Pulisic and Sancho for time.

It’s very hard to make your mind up on Dahoud, right? It feels, at least sometimes, he’s erratic and a detriment to the calmness of midfield (when Witsel is in), and other times, he’s body-feinting left and right, creating forward progression. Of course, this could just be his inconsistency showing itself in a tangible way. But the mind wanders to his time at Gladbach, where he had a regular partner in Granit Xhaka, and Dahoud was one of the most reliable players for Favre.

Diallo and Akanji are going to be so fun to watch to develop. The two are improving every match and are, quite clearly, learning each other’s tendencies.

The Numbers Game

Roman Bürki is improving his passing! Or being told to. But still! This is great news for Dortmund. The Swiss posted a season-high pass-completion percentage of 77%, up from 51% on the year. And, most importantly, he only attempted 14 long balls. In the first two matches of the season he tried 48 long balls, in total. Smarter Bürki=more possession and less defense for BVB.

Dortmund aren’t going to press. Last year, Favre’s Nice team average 11.60 passes allowed per defensive action in the opposition half, or PPDA—the pressing stat. This year, Dortmund are averaging 11.94. For comparison, Jürgen Klopp’s BVB sides used to clock in around 5.5–7.5 PPDA. This is Dortmund’s tempo when off the ball, get used to it.

Wolf isn’t sure what he’s meant to be doing, and he’s not good without direction. Despite his goal, Wolf continued his role as pass-receiver on the wing without much success. He lost nine of the 12 duels he took part in—which highlights some of his ineffectiveness in the middle of the park. And he attempted just two passes within five yards of the 18-yard-box. A Wolf in sheep’s clothing, perhaps?

Diallo and Akanji can ball: The duo combined for 202 accurate passes, and a completion percentage of 93%. Even more spectacularly, they completed 34 long balls! There aren’t too many center-back pairings who can compete with those numbers. Though this isn’t Favre’s ideal way to play, it’s promising to see such ability.

Oh, and those guys are fly-swatters. Diallo and Akanji have allowed just 17.7% of crosses to be completed by opposition this year. Teams are just 8-for-45 trying to get the ball into the Dortmund box—mighty impressive for a 22- and 23-year-old.

Point of Interest

It’s only a matter of time before Sancho is starting week-in, week-out for Dortmund. It’s hard to believe he doesn’t turn 19 years old until closer to the end of the season—though commentators aren’t shy to remind BVB fans.

Favre will be smart to limit his play time in the immediate, slightly, to keep progressing the development of Bruun Larsen and Pulisic, as well. But we know Sancho will earn whatever his talent brings him. If he continues on as BVB’s second-most effective wide player, behind the skipper, then he’ll get more play time—Favre is in the business of winning, not shielding teenagers.

But, what we don’t know is: What type of player will, or can, Sancho become?

For crystall-ball-peering, having just 737 minutes under your belt in the Bundesliga doesn’t make it very easy for us. It’s a small sample size, so as always, beware. But we can tell a few things from looking at these numbers, as well as watching all his games since he’s put on the black and yellow: He doesn’t love to shoot, he’s got an eye for a pass and he likes to contribute in midfield. If we were forecasting, we might be able to throw out the direct, goal-scoring winger type of Lorenzo Insigne, Memphis Depay or, more dramatically, Gareth Bale. These are high-shot total wingers—not Sancho.

His key passes per-90, and play around the sideline, leads us to believe he won’t be “typical winger.” He doesn’t seem to project into the classic wing styles of Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman or Sadio Mané, either.

Where, statistically and, somewhat stylistically, Sancho lands, is in the realm of the strong possession winger—the player who is just as affective when his team has lots of the ball and needs someone to breakdown a static wall of eight defenders, as he is when he’s on the fast-break. The two players that come to mind are Douglas Costa, and Thomas Lemar. Both love the sideline, both are excellent set-up men, and both have put up very similar numbers to what Sancho has in short time in Dortmund.

Next up

Julian Nagelsmann awaits. BVB head a few hours to the south to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena to take on the shape-shifting Die Kraichgauer, on Saturday, September 22. Nagelsmann’s side has created the fourth-most xG this year, but the third most xGA, too. We’ll also have to see what problems, if any, the return of European competition brings Dortmund this week. But after that, a true tactical test for Favre and his side as they continue avoid major growing pains in the Bundesliga, for now.