Coach Edin Terzic is not responsible for Borussia Dortmund’s poor showings in the Bundesliga, their former helmsman Ottmar Hitzfeld has said.
Hitzfeld told dpa that Dortmund officials made the right decision last month to stick with Terzic.
“Dortmund certainly don’t have a coaching problem. They have often changed coaches in recent years, but this certain inconsistency has remained,” Hitzfeld said.
“In my opinion, Edin Terzic is doing a very good job. For me, he is also a coach who has a very positive aura on the touchline. I also like him very much in the interviews, he answers very calmly.”
Dortmund have won only one of their last eight Bundesliga matches. They are six points away from the top four in fifth place, and 15 points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
“I can’t explain what’s happening in Dortmund. They have very good individual players, they also have good guys in the team. Nevertheless, they always stumble against mediocre teams,” Hitzfeld said.
Hitzfeld led Dortmund to Bundesliga titles in 1995 and 1996, and won the Champions League with them in 1997, before winning five more Bundesliga titles and another Champions League with Bayern Munich.
He noted that Dortmund performed much better in the Champions League this season where they won a tough group ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle United.
“In the Champions League, you are more concentrated, more focussed. It obviously suits them better not to be the favourites,” Hitzfeld said.
