Peter Bosz, Dortmund at a crossroads ahead of Revierderby vs. Schalke

Published on: 25 November 2017

Borussia Dortmund's Peter Bosz insists he is not worried about losing his job despite winning only two of their last games. The ESPN FC panel pinpoint where Borussia Dortmund's biggest shortcomings lie following their 2-1 defeat against Tottenham.

DORTMUND, Germany -- When it comes to rivalries, there is no bigger game in Germany than the Revierderby. Two of the most passionate sets of fans clash on Saturday afternoon as Borussia Dortmund host Schalke 04 -- or Ludenscheid-Nord against Herne-West as neither would take the true name of their foes into their own mouths.

It's not a rivalry that is as politically charged as "El Clasico" between Barcelona and Real Madrid. On the contrary, Schalke and Dortmund fans have more in common than they would care to admit. Football just means just a little bit more to the people of the Ruhr Valley than to other people in Germany.

Borussia Dortmund Schalke 04 2:30 PM UTC Game Details Home: 8/11  Draw: 16/5  Away: 10/3  Odds from bet365 bet365 PickCenter GameCast Lineups and Stats

Both BVB and S04 have scored eight goals in their last five league matches. That, however, is where the commonalities at the present end, as Domenico Tedesco's side have only conceded one goal in that timeframe, while Peter Bosz's side have conceded 14. Hence, Schalke have won 13 out of a possible 15 points and Dortmund just one. It is almost a miracle that the Black and Yellows have a chance to leapfrog their hated rivals with a simple win on Saturday with such an atrocious record of late.

Overall, it seems as though both clubs are going in different directions. After years of constant turmoil and mediocrity, Schalke have finally found some stability under Tedesco. The 32-year-old has implemented a defence-first approach in Gelsenkirchen and put the focus on transitional play in both directions. Schalke are very quick about getting behind the ball once they have lost it but they are lethal on the fast break. Thus, they have the second-best defence in the Bundesliga and have earned their right to be in second place despite the relatively low scoring output.

And Tedesco has achieved defensive stability without former captain and club icon Benedikt Howedes, who moved to Juventus on loan after finding out that he did not feature in the young coach's plans. The risky ploy could have quickly backfired on Tedesco but instead the talk of the town is about how he managed to re-implement Max Meyer into his system. Meyer, a talent from the Schalke academy that had seemed to have lost his way as a no. 10, has now become an integral cog for the club as a defensive midfielder.

In short, Schalke are a lot of things that Dortmund are not right now. Calm, confident, defensively solid and on the up. Apart from the individual quality, where BVB still have the better team on paper, there is little to suggest why the Black and Yellows would manage to turn their luck around.

Is the Revierderby make-or-break for Peter Bosz?

Borussia Dortmund feel the firm grip of the vortex of the downward spiral. They have only won one match out of their last nine and the pressure on Bosz grows exponentially with every passing bad result.

He was asked whether he would feel like Saturday's match could be if it yielded another bad result, Bosz answered with a "no," but was quick to point out that coaches get sacked all the time if things aren't going well at big clubs.

Peter Bosz's job could be in trouble if Dortmund don't get a result at home against rivals Schalke.

The nature of a derby could be a catalyst to change the thinking of the Dortmund board, of course. It's the sort of match, in which emotions are amplified in both directions and an embarrassing derby loss could see the Westfalenstadion crowd flip on the Dutch manager. The member's meeting will be on Sunday morning. An event, in which CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke will have to add a lot of context to the current crisis and something he would much rather do with some banter on the heels of a derby win.

Jurgen Klopp went seven league games without a league win during the infamous 2014-15 campaign, but it's doubtful that Bosz will be awarded the same amount of credit at the helm as Klopp had two years after leading the side to a Champions League final.

For Bosz the only beacon of hope -- next to a win, of course -- could be Dortmund's lack of a contingency plan for the coaching position. Though how likely is it that Dortmund can beat Schalke in the Westfalenstadion on Saturday? Tedesco will have analysed previous matches and will have seen that a conservative 3-5-2 system with man-orientation is pretty much all that is needed to nullify BVB's build-up play. The disciplined Schalke should find it the easiest of all Bundesliga teams to pick off, a Dortmund side that routinely delivers calamitous errors at the back.

The Black and Yellows will enter this match already low on confidence and the past games have shown that any mental setback sees them completely unravel. When it comes to the confidence of his team, Bosz has said on Tuesday that the derby may come at the perfect time. Possibly, it could also come at the worst time depending on the outcome.

But a derby is a game like no other and one which can create a special momentum for any team. Especially, when it feels as though the odds are stacked against Dortmund, the Westfalenstadion has a habit of truly coming to life. If the team just finds a bit of a spark early on, the ferocious atmosphere could lift the team to do better than in games before.

And derby wins can have great effects for the remainder of a season. In 2010, a 3-1 win away to Schalke was described by Dortmund's players as the crucial match that really got them going on their run to lift the championship in 2011. So even if Bosz stays on as a manager regardless of the result, this game will still be make-or-break for the Black and Yellows.

Stefan Buczko covers Borussia Dortmund for ESPN FC. Twitter: @StefanBuczko.

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Source: espn.co.uk

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