What went wrong? How did Dortmund fall behind 5 other Bundesliga teams, while losing less, allowing less goals, and having a superior goal differential? It is all explained when you look at a single statistic, ties. BVB finished with the second most ties in the Bundesliga at 14. So obviously the Schwarzgelben had the ability to keep up and match that of any other club in the Bundesliga, as they scored an equal amount of goals or more than their opponents in 29 of their 34 (85%) games. And this is where the limiting reagent hindered BVB’s success in 2008.

The reagent was simply the inability to finish. Whether the team lacked the skill to overcome a draw, or just didn’t have the killer instinct to finish the opponent off. Dortmund suffered from the lack of a sense of urgency, this is undeniably clear through out the season, but especially in their final match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. As BVB was on the brink of attaining a spot to compete internationally, the club reached yet another draw, allowing Borussia
Mönchengladbach to keep its head above water and remain in the Bundesliga.

Perhaps you can argue that Borussia Mönchengladbach was in dire straights, while BVB was only looking to put icing on a successful season. Regardless, a team capable of achieving what Dortmund did should be able to overcome a 1:1 draw, unless of course there is something missing.

Another way to look at this is obviously the lack of scoring goals when the club absolutely needed it. Alexander Frei led BVB with a total of 12 goals, followed by Valdez, who had 8. Not to discredit either of these players, but it’s clear that Dortmund lacked a star striker, or even a formidable duo. Now with Alexander Frei leaving the Schwarzgelben for FC Basel, BVB is going have to rely on a breakout performance from one of their players, or their summer acquisitions. But this is something I believe BVB will overcome, and as long as they continue to play at the same level as they did last year, we should be in for a treat.

Sebastian Kehl is also in a race against time to be fit for this Saturday’s derby. The knee he had surgery done on (from that injury way back at the start of last season) has swollen up and has kept him out of practice for much of the week. His status for the match against Schalke is listed as doubtful.

Finally, you can add Philipp Degen’s name to the list of those injured. Although there has been no proper diagnosis of his injury, Degen’s knee is the culprit. He also is expected to miss the derby this weekend.

In a friendly match (staged for charity) against DJK Greven, Frei scored two goals in a 8-0 Borussia Dortmund win. Hey, atleast we’re awesome at beating up on crappy teams throughout Germany (but when it comes to world powers like MSV Duisburg, we’re helpless…).

Florian Kringe got things rolling on 12 minutes, with Frei scoring his first of the evening just four minutes later. Nelson Valdez continued his run of scoring against crappy teams in the 19th, while Giovanni Federico made it 5-0 in the 42nd minute.

Frei again found the back of the net, this time 13 minutes after the re-start. Amateur Nöthe added one of his own in the 82nd minute, and fellow amateur Boztepe finished it off just two minutes later.

Hmmm. We’ve had a couple of 8-0 wins against poor quality teams this year. 8-0 against Schalke? Sounds good to me.

The news is much welcomed by Thomas Doll (and BVB fans everywhere), but Doll is still being cautious with Frei. He says a timetable for his match return hasn’t been set because he wants to ensure Frei gets all the time he needs to fully recover.

I guess it’s better not to take any chances with the league’s second leading goalscorer (from last season, that is). Hopefully the time off he’s getting will make him come back without any signs of that injury.

In related news, Daniel Gordon and Sebastian Tyrala have both been declared out due to injuries. I have no clue as to how long either of them will be out.

On a lighter note, the team received a visit from Roger Federer at their Swiss hotel. Apparently he was seen chatting it up with fellow countryman Philipp Degen. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Federer just won his fifth straight Wimbledon title. That’s just ridiculous.

Finally, Dortmund have another friendly match tomorrow. The opponent will be Anderlecht, who just lost to Galatasaray 1-0. Galatasaray will then be playing Young Boys Bern, who beat Dortmund after penalties.

P.S. There’s a photo out and about of Mladen Petric that shows the full BVB away uniform. It can be seen here. It looks better than I initially thought it would, but those black sleeves just look completely out of place. What do you think?

In other news, Alex Frei has been working all day and all of the night (Can you read that without singing/thinking of the song? Didn’t think so) to make a comeback for the start of the season. Apparently he’s been doing an insane amount of rehab and exercises to get fit and now he thinks there’s a possibility he’ll be ready to go by the beginning of the season.

“It is my goal to be back on the team in August. If possible on opening day. Should it only be the third match day, then that is also fine with me,” Frei said.

He’s also been training by himself for the past week in an unknown part of Switzerland. Why doesn’t he want anyone to know where he’s training? So he won’t be distracted in his efforts to be back in time for the season opener. Unbelievable. That’s exactly the kind of determination every player on the team needs. Just great stuff.

P.S. The B-Juniors (pictured – David Blacha) fell to Bayern Munich’s youngsters 1-0 in the German Cup Final. Too bad, really.

* – Matthew Amoah has been sold to NAC Breda of the Dutch Eredivisie. According to Earnie Stewart, the club’s techincal director, NAC has long been after Amoah.

“We have been working on this deal for months. First it looked like it was impossible for the player to sign, but this week negotiating went quicker,” he said.

I’m not sure on the exact transfer fee, but kicker reports that Dortmund lowered their €450,000 asking price. However, BVB will keep part of the transfer rights, so they will make some more money should NAC sell him to someone else.

Good luck in Holland…

Frei scored 16 goals for BVB in his first season at the Westfalenstadion, good enough to make him second on the Bundesliga’s goalscoring chart (tied with Roy Makaay). Only Vfl Bochum strker Theofanis Gekas scored more in the past season (20 goals).

Frei also notched two goals while on international duty with the Swiss.

The honor is most deserved for Frei.