5,000 VIEWS THANK YOU I LOVE YOU PEOPLES YOU MADE THIS HAPPEN!!!!

always nice to see Arsenal lose other than that great story keep it up

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1on1 with: Mathias Iconic

On May 5th 2012 Borussia Dortmund lifted the Bundesliga title for a second successive year. Since then...Bayern have dominated the Bundesliga with two title wins by huge margins. After the shock appointment of ex-player Mats Iconic Dortmund are sat sixth in the Bundesliga, not as high as they would have liked but considering they are in a transition period things could be a lot worse.

Since their defeat to Stuttgart on matchday two of the season they have been defeated only once since (an unfortunate defeat away to Hannover) and the players are seeming to enjoy working under the thirty nine year old. The emergence of Tammo Harder has been a pleasant suprise with the twenty year old forward being the only Dortmund player ever present so far this season.

Another positive is that BvB are the only side to have taken points off of Bayern after the 1-1 draw at the Signal Iduna Park in September. There have of course been teething problems for Dortmund as well with the defence still without a clean sheet since the German Cup first round match against SV Siegen.

We caught up with Mats Iconic to discuss the season so far.


Was it hard to get the players motivation and to play for you after Klopp left?
Jason Bradbury, Manchester.

(MI)'No, not at all the players knew that to achieve our goal we all have to have complete faith in each other, Jurgen Klopp is a Borussia Dortmund legend and we were very lucky to have him as our manager for six wonderful years we all know he was loved by everyone here and I hope he returns to management soon. We are like a family and we all unite as one when we play no person is left out at training and we have a loving environment, I can assure you that the players are loving their football and want to work hard to keep our good run going.'

http://www.bvb.de/var/ezdemo_site/storage/images/media/bilder/galeriebilder/11training1/993326-1-ger-DE/11Training1_bvbnachrichtenbild_regular.jpg

Do you think Dortmund have a realistic chance of catching Bayern this season?
Jack Hannigan, Dover

'Of course we do! We have to believe that we can, we know it will be hard but we've done it before so I know we can do it again. The players are more than up for it and they want to give 110% to get our title back. We still have a lot of the players we did when we won the league in 2011 and 2012.'
(FFT: Having said that do you think Dortmund lack new vigour and style?)
'Not at all think of previous teams that have made little purchases and still managed to win back-to-back titles, they had determined players who were able to play in numerous different ways and managers able to tinker well with the team.'

http://www.arabnews.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/galleryformatter_slide/Bundes.jpg


When you were in that 2011 Bundesliga winning team what was so special about it?
John Mackintosh, London

'It may suprise you but, there wasn't anything overly special about us we were building as a team and we just kept on trying to win matches and then everyone was talking us up as the new flavour of the month. Klopp deserves credit but so to do the players from that season, Kagawa, Sahin, myself (laughs) so do the backroom staff, the board kitchen staff, our incredibly loyal supporters you know everyone connected with the club.'

http://media.bundesliga.com/media/images/12_bl_com/628x353/bvb_plate_sahin_628.jpg


Do you think you have what it takes to be one of the all time managerial greats in fotball?
Anthony Morrison, Birmingham

'I'd like to think so, I have to work hard and get better licenses but I see no reason why I can't become a great manager. I have to get more experience in the business of being a football manager because that will make me better. Better at managing my players, managing media conferences and those sort of things.'

Pal's poser

http://www.alasayvan.com/attachments/spor-ve-sporcular-39228d1399456318/lars-ricken3.jpg

'Do you think you would still beat all the others players in a race and if so who would clean up?'
Lars Ricken, ex-Borussia Dortmund team-mate

'I know what your getting at Lars! (Iconic can't stop laughing) We used to have a race at the end of every training session that was before a game, and whoever won got to decide who would clean all the guys boots, naturally everyone made sure their boots were filthy and we'd make that person our lackey for a while. Of course I always won, seriously though it was a great way of keeping spirit and our competitive edge high.'


How key was it to sign Marco Reus on a new contract?
George Hamlin, Derby

'Let me first make this clear we are by no means a one man team here, of course we have a few standout players 'match-winners' as you may put it but every team has those, but no player is more important than the club, we have Hummels and Reus and Harder but if they were to get bigheaded then I would have no hesitation in selling them. But Marco is a world class player and I am absolutely ecstatic that he's staying on.'

Do you think Tammo Harder will become a world class player?
Jorgen Hartsonn, via email

'Absolutely he has a great attitude to the game and a will to win and keep pushing himself to be the very best he can be. I wouldn't be playing over such good player as Kuba, 'PEA' or Ashley Young if I didn't think he is a great player I do believe that he is the next Dortmund legend.

http://mediadb.kicker.de/news/1000/1020/1100/26000/spielbericht/802552/harder-tammo8x6-1397395167.jpg

(FFT: Do you think that having formerly been a Schalke player means that he won't be fully committed to the Dortmund cause?)
'Not at all he is Dortmund through and through I'm actually quiet disappointed that you'd question his work ethic and love for our club. Tammo is one of the most committed players to the Dortmund cause that I have ever had the pleasure to work with.'

After those first few games where you only managed one point in two games, were you feeling any pressure?
Joaquin Rodriguez, Madrid

'Pff...pressure what pressure?! That is not pressure I don't get nervous I get focused, besides that is not pressure, pressure is poor peoples trying to feed their families there is no pressure in football.'

http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/dakirby309/windows-8-metro/256/Web-Twitter-alt-2-Metro-icon.png Who would you like to see quizzed here? And what question would you ask them? Tweet us @FourFourTwo with #1on1.

The biggest Revierderby in years?

This month will see the first Revierderby of the season contested at the Veltins-Arena as FC Schalke04 take on Borussia Dortmund. Under fire Schalke boss Jens Keller has been receiving recent criticism for the poor performances and results from Schalke with the Royal Blues sat 14th in the table, Keller has also encountered critics for a 'lack of character and passion' and experts say that losing the match against Dortmund could be the final nail in his coffin.

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Under fire Keller could face the axe if Schalke lose.

Across the river at the Westfalanstadion (otherwise known as the Signal Iduna Park) things couldn't be much better, after a slow start Der BvB have really clicked into gear and are now pushing both FC Bayern Munchen and Borussia Monchengladbach hard at the top, the latter of those two are now top of the Bundesliga table two points ahead of the champions and four ahead of Dortmund, Dortmund do face a big blow to their squad as Tammo Harder will be out of action until mid November with an ankle injury sustained in meeting with Paderborn on Bundesliga matchday eight. But Harder's injury could have come at a much worse time says Dortmund boss Mathias Iconic.

http://mediadb.kicker.de/news/1000/1020/1100/24000/artikel/775212/tammo_harder800x600-1348238286.jpg
Injured for the derby, Tammo Harder in the blue of Schalke

'Tammo Harder is the future of this football club but we can cope without him, remember we have Kuba, PEA, Marco Reus and Ashley Young all of which are capable wide players. Tammo's injury could have encountered us at a much worse time if it had been earlier when we had injuries then well...we'd have be f*cked, am I allowed to say that? Now though Ashley has found his feet and is looking like the player he is, Marco is back from injury and is also looking good, I am confident to say he is back to top form, almost at least. Kuba is nearing full fitness and should return to first team action within a month. PEA has worked so hard in training and on the pitch when he's been given his chance, he is a great role model for all young fans of Dortmund and his patience is also an admirable asset he posses.'

Schalke lost Klaas Jan Hunterlaar earlier in the campaign through an ankle injury which kept him out of action for the majority of September. Since then they have found goals hard to come by with and Chinedu Obasi leading the line. Hunterlaar has been rumoured to return for the match against BvB, Jens Keller's cryptic did little by to throw the fans of the scent.

'Will Hunterlaar play, beats me he could play, he could not play. It is a open book I cannot and will not be drawn into team and tactical discussions. We are a much weaker team without Klaas though, that is for sure, he scores our goals and is the talisman for us. You will see what team I play on Saturday and who will win, that will be us.'


http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2013/3/12/1363100358340/Schalkes-Dutch-striker-Kl-008.jpg
Will the hunter be back in time to face Dortmund?

The response of Iconic was merely 'If Jens Keller stopped running his mouth then he wouldn't be in half as much trouble as he is in right now. We do out talking on the pitch and if we win then we are humble, if we lose then we have to admit our opposition were better than us on the day.'

It remains to be seen who will the first RivierDerby of the season but it is sure to be a fiery, passionate, full-blooded affair.

Author's note

Please leave your predictions below, I want you peoples to predict all the big games I do a preview of it is really cool to see you try and predict what will happen. Maybe you can do better than the Super Cup game!

Fan favourite Dede returns for new 'Glory Years'

Borussia Dortmund fan favourite Dede has returned to the club as the backup Left-Back to Erik Durm, the Brazilian who won the Bundesliga with Dortmund in 2002 and 2011 was also teammates with manager Mats Iconic in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons. He made two-hundred and twenty two league appearances from 1998 to 2011.

http://perlbal.hi-pi.com/blog-images/512280/gd/130072784335/Nach-13-Jahren-verlasst-Publikumsliebling-Dede-den-BVB.jpg

'It's great to be back here in Germany, in Dortmund. I think I can help the club enter a new golden age, where we win more league titles and become even better in Europe. I hope we can win a European trophy, preferably the Champions League. I already feel at home here again, there's been a bit of banter flying around after the 7-1 game, but you got to live with it and give as good as you get. It's all water under the bridge now, it's all water under the bridge to us Brazilians now.'

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article9593391.ece/alternates/w460/Luiz-1.jpg
A crestfallen David Luiz trudges off the pitch after Brazil's 7-1 World Cup humiliation courtesy of Germany.

He will also look to study for his coaching badges at Dortmund as he looks into being a coach when he hangs up his boots.

'I would love to be a coach or a manager when I retire, I would love to go and give something back in a way. I want to be what my coaches were to the next generation of footballers, and I hope I can help the younger players, the kids, to develop into brilliant players.'


Dede wants to coach the footballers of tomorrow.

'At thirty six he is no spring chicken but he's not required to play many games so that shouldn't be to much of a problem for him, he's a great guy and a good player too. Erik Durm has a great role-model in him for the next few seasons to help him mature into the player we all know he be just that bit quicker.'

A typically optimistic response from Iconic who has given good reasons for signing Dede, but only time will tell if he still has what it takes to keep up with the modern day Bundesliga.

Loving this thread. Keep it up!

October; DEFENCE, DEFENCE, DEFENCE!!!

October saw our defence finally show its form as we ended this month with a 100% record and conceded only twice, to Basel and Augsburg respectively. Our scoring form also picked up and we won the RivierDerby with much more ease than the scoreline suggested, we lost Tammo Harder through injury but Ashley Young stepped up to be a very important player for us this month added to that the return of Marco Reus was also a big boost and he was a pivotal player for us, but without further ado let's take a look at what happened for Dortmund in the month of October.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Matchdays 2 & 3

FC Basel 1-2 Borussia Dortmund

Mangers Thoughts: We continued our form in Europe with a steady 2-1 victory over Basel, the opener after just five minutes. Marco Reus the provider he ghosted inside before simply laying the ball off to the Serbian (who recently signed a new contract that will keep him here until 2019) pivoted with ball and struck in a single breathtaking moment of quality from Jojic. Our second goal came after twenty eight minutes, Tammo Harder wriggled through a gap in the Swiss champions back line and was able to run with the ball toward the near post before pulling the ball back across goal for Marco Reus to score an easy tap in. The game wasn't over there though, and after just three minutes of second half action Basel had pulled a goal back, Fabien Frei whipped in a delicious cross which Marco Streller couldn't quite get on the end of and after some penalty box pinball Izunna Ozochukwu fired home his first goal of the campaign. A match that we deserved to win by more goals but a win nonetheless and we were pleased to take three points from the game.

Borussia Dortmund 2-0 LOSC Lille

Mangers thoughts: A match which the Frenchman dominated for the most part but were unable to break our defence they had the better quality and quantity of chances but were unable to form a way past Mats Hummels and co. They deadlock was eventually broken by on loan Manchester United winger Ashley Young, and boy was it worth it! He curled a pitch perfect free-kick into the top right hand corner of the Lille goal giving us a thoroughly undeserved lead. We defended for our lifes until in the eight-eighth minute Adrian Ramos broke away but was tripped Fabien Degache, Young again hit a brilliant dead ball, only this time Vincent Enyeama sent the ball crashing onto the crossbar and, luckily for us, into the path of Ilkay Gundogan who hooked a volley into the bottom right corner. Lille had a golden chance to score on thirty seven minutes, Rio Mavuba was put through one-on-one with Roman Weidenfeller and hit a decent enough shot, which perhaps on another day would have beaten Weidenfeller, but the thirty three four old miraculously changed his balance and managed to palm the ball out for a corner.

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Bundesliga Matchdays 7-9

Augsburg 0-1 Borussia Dortmund

Mangers thoughts: A game in which Augsburg were left cursing their luck and Roman Weidenfeller who made three excellent saves to deny Augsburg a share of the spoils. We did hit the post after less than a minute through Ciro Immobile, the Italian was ruled to be offside however. Weidenfeller's first key save cam after just eighteen minutes, Weidenfeller getting low to prevent a Timo Werner cross from causing us to many problems. In the fourtieth minute he did his best Manuel Nuer impression, playing the role of sweeper-keeper to punt the ball away from danger. His best and most crucial save came for the seventieth fifth minute, Nikola Djurdjic barged through the defence and hit a well placed shot with plenty of power on it but again Weidenfeller kept the hosts at bay, this time stretching out his right leg to stop it from reaching its destination of the goal. The game deciding goal was scored in the fifty first minute from the left boot of left back Erik Durm, he nipped in to score from close range after a Milos Jojic free kick smashed the bar Marwin Hitz, the Augsburg keeper, seemed to become paralyzed for a few seconds. That was long enough for Durm to find space and score to win the game. Hitz then set of on the start of his ludicrous claims that the goal was offside, his protests were correctly ignored by referee Tobias Stieler and his assistants.

Borussia Dortmund 2-0 SC Paderborn

This game was the polar opposite of the Augsburg game from our side of it. Even more one sided than the scoreline would lead you to believe, also a match where Ashley Young was behind everything, really making things happen and being the creative force behind the team. He was the goalscorer for the opening goal, Ezequiel Rescaldani showed signs of things to come with a skillful dribble through the Paderborn defence attracting the whole of the visitors backline before sliding the ball back to Young and the on loan Manchester United winger hit a delectable chip over Lukas Kruse, who had been fooled into thinking Young would drill his shot low and was helpless as he could only watch the ball nestle into the net. Young could have easily had a hat-trick but Kruse was in good form and we were wasteful, but in the eight fifth minute Young darted through the penalty area and attempted to curl the ball past Kruse, he saved it but Marco Reus was on hand to score from the rebound. The win didn't come without a price though, as Tammo Harder limped off in the seventy third minute with what proved to be a sprained ankle.

FC Schalke04 0-1 Borussia Dortmund

So we won the derby and we deserved it, actually we deserved to win it by more we hit the woodwork three times in total and had two goals disallowed for offside. Schalke didn't really have any shots at goal after Julian Draxler made a good dribble through our defence but finished it like Rick Gervais. And they were left ruing that missed chance just five minutes later when Henrik Mkhitaryan flicked the ball into the back of the net after a beautiful delivery from Reus. Reus was again involved when he smashed a free kick onto the exact point where cross meets right post. Again the Royal Blues rode their luck in the fourty eighth minute, Reus once more hitting the post, this time curling a low shot past the Schalke wall and onto the right hand post Ralf Fahrmann getting nowhere near the ball. Late sub Pablo Aimar's luck was no better and after trying an audacious lob over Fahrmann the ball thumped the bar. Our two disallowed goals came in the fifty third and sixty sixth minute respectively. The first of which meant that Ezequiel Rescaldani was heart breakingly robbed of his first BvB goal, Reus allowed way to much room and was easily able to chip the ball into the path of the Argentine who hit a shot straight at Fahrmann who wrists turned to chocolate and was unable to prevent the ball from going in, yet he didn't have to the linesman did it for him in reality a good decision from the man with the flag. The second disallowed goal was scored from the game's Mr. Unlucky- Marco Reus. After some perfect tiki-taka passing Henrik Mkhitaryan was allowed to turn in acres of space and give the ball to Rescaldani who jinked inside and hit a short pass into the space ahead of Reus and he hit a terrific shot through the gap between the near post and Fahrmann, this time the linesman got his decision wrong and the goal should have stood. Still we won and it was a big victory to help us keep up the pressure on Bayern and Gladbach.

DFB Pokal 2nd round

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Augsburg

After their narrow defeat to us in the league it came as no suprise that Augsburg were fired up for this, and they must have feared for another frustrating evening when Nikola Djurdjic send shockwaves up the goal after a long ranger effort hit our left hand post. And they must have feared that we would snatch victory away from them again when Milos Jojic used some superb dribbling skills to slip the ball into the path of Shinji Kagawa who hit a first time through pass to Ivan Klasnic and from the kind of range that he had the chance from it was evident he wasn't going to miss. Curling an exquisite finish into the bottom right corner, calming the nerves that were starting to set in for the home crowd. We had to wait until the seventy first minute for our next sight of goal, and we made full use of it Reus managed to work some space and cut inside before sending the ball through a gap in the Augsburg defence and to Ivan Klasnic who hit a scrappy shot along the floor, but one that squeezed into the net and doubled our advantage. But just four minutes later a low corner from Augsburg was stuck in by Nikola Djurdjic and the game was back on. But in the ninetieth minute we closed the game off and that man Klasnic scored his second hat-trick of the season. Adrian Ramos raced forward on the breakaway before floating a cross in and Klasnic scissor kicked the ball into the top corner.

Player(s) of the month

This month's players of the month are our two dynamite wingers Marco Reus and Ashley Young, there is literally nothing to choose between these two and they both equally deserve this accolade. Their best match together came in the 2-0 win over Paderborn where they both scored and pretty much everything went through them.

League Table*

*Table includes Matchday 10 win over Koln/Cologne.


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Young has stepped up to the plate in October and his loan move could now be made permanent.

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Reus was cursed in the game against Schalke but we didn't live to regret it.

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Klasnic claimed another match ball to put us in the 3rd round of the Pokal.

http://www.wz-newsline.de/polopoly_fs/1.835161.1322851069!/httpImage/onlineImage.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_550/onlineImage.jpg
After a good month we are now breathing down Gladbach's necks.

Nice Update!

Good month for Dortmund nice to see them at the right end of the table

January transfer targets, This week: Borussia Dortmund

BvB have been almost faultless so far in the Bundesliga and are now the title favourites, in this installment of 'January transfer targets' we analyse what has made Dortmund so brilliant this year.

Of course the most blatantly obvious factor for their fine form is on the wings, in Ashley Young and Marco Reus they have to world class wingers that cause the opposition endless problems all the way through matches. Add to that Tammo Harder, Pierre Emerick Aubamyeng and Jakub B?aszczykowski means they always pose a threat down the flanks.

In the striker position Dortmund don't have an out-an-out scorer and experts have said that this could be their undoing later in the campaign, Ezequiel Rescaldani, Adrien Ramos and Ciro Immobile have yet to really find their feet at the Signal Iduna Park yet no such worries have come for Ivan Klasnic. At least not in the Pokal (German Cup) having now hit two hat-tricks in a row in that tournament Klasnic has not had such luck in the league though and is yet to contribute a Bundesliga goal for Iconic's side.

http://www.bvb.de/var/ezdemo_site/storage/images/media/bilder/galeriebilder/anderlecht_ramos_kagawa_immobile/1377302-1-ger-DE/Anderlecht_Ramos_Kagawa_Immobile_bvbnachrichtenbild_regular.jpg
Dortmund need their strikers to pull their weight more in the goalscoring department.

The defence has improved massively since the beginning of the season with Mats Hummels and Sokratis this almost immovable centre back pairing after the departure of Nven Subotic to Real Madrid. The emergence of Jon Gorenc Stankovic has also meant that Dortmund have a solid centre back for every game along with Mohamed El-Bouazzati and are tipped to be the rock in their defence for the next ten to fifteen years.

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Stankovic has been billed as a world class defender for the future.

Timo Horn was Dortmund's most prominent summer signing but has endured a tough start to his Dortmund career and has another injury which looks to keep him sidelined for November and some of December, Horn is out injured along with Tammo Harder, Zeljko Brkic and Jakub B?aszczykowski. His broken finger gas given Roman Weidenfeller the chance to reassert himself as the number one for his club and has made good on his chance making key saves in games against Augsburg and Lille showing he's not yet ready to give up his first team spot just yet.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/12/09/23EAB14C00000578-2867295-image-a-8_1418145539160.jpg
Horn's injury problems has meant that he's missed a big chunk of th campaign.

But whilst Reus and Young dazzle you, Hummels and Sokratis lead the defence brilliantly, Weidenfeller, Horn and Brkic make gravity defting saves and Immobile is now scoring, Sven Bender is truly the man that makes them tick, he is the engine of Dortmund squad. He's the battling player that every team needs to win, a great tackler who can also make his presence known at the other end of the pitch, remember his goal against Bayern. He can also play at centre back and played there in pre season (whilst Kehl was in the DM position). He has now been labeled Dortmund's key player so far and fans are calling for Sven, who's brother Lars plays for Bayer Leverkusen, to receive a new contract. This makes sense with Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool all interested in signing him Dortmund will be aware that he could move soon. With his current deal expiring in July 2017 Bender has decisions to make and Dortmund's impressive start may help sway his decision to his current club.

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Bender has been his side's key player this term.

The one problem with the Dortmund team is that when they are without Bender they can be easily dominated in the middle of the park, there have been rumours linking Dortmund with these three players.

Targets

Rio Mavuba

Pros

http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/71644/71644,1174497267,1/stock-photo-tick-mark-2920889.jpg Like Bender Mavuba has a brilliant engine which allows him to run up and down the pitch with ease.

http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/71644/71644,1174497267,1/stock-photo-tick-mark-2920889.jpg Strong tackler and is equally good at the other end of the pitch to score goals.

Cons

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/M/F/9/r/c/6/x-mark-red-th.png Is a key player for Lille and would cost a lot of money to get.

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/M/F/9/r/c/6/x-mark-red-th.png Cannot play in the UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE as he has played for Lille in the group stage.

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/M/F/9/r/c/6/x-mark-red-th.png A player of his quality may scare Bender away and make him force a move away.

Mathieu Flamini

Pros

http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/71644/71644,1174497267,1/stock-photo-tick-mark-2920889.jpg Is available for cheap due to transfer listing.

http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/71644/71644,1174497267,1/stock-photo-tick-mark-2920889.jpg Can play in UCL.

Cons

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/M/F/9/r/c/6/x-mark-red-th.png He's probably transfer listed for a reason.

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/M/F/9/r/c/6/x-mark-red-th.png Is he to slight for the DM role?

Lucas Romero

Pros

http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/71644/71644,1174497267,1/stock-photo-tick-mark-2920889.jpg Romero is a great player for the future.

http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/71644/71644,1174497267,1/stock-photo-tick-mark-2920889.jpg He can also play in the centre of midfield.

http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/thumb_small/71644/71644,1174497267,1/stock-photo-tick-mark-2920889.jpg He could be the future engine of Dortmund.

Cons

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/M/F/9/r/c/6/x-mark-red-th.png He's a predictable signing for this story.

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/M/F/9/r/c/6/x-mark-red-th.png He would take time to settle in the Bundesliga and that is a trouble.

Like the potential signing layout - very nice touch!

Decent month, closing down on Gladbach. Some nice potential transfers aswell!

Samtregs- Thanks man much appreciated!

OMGItsToddzy- The best is yet to come I can assure you.

Tallery- Can't take all the credit nabbed the basic idea off VillaFan Jason.

Zap- Bayer will do me a massive favour in November!

November; Form of champions?

This month we showed that we have the making of potential champs with yet another impressive month and due to Borussia MonchenGladbach receiving two defeats in a row we were able to sneak into first place in the Bundesliga. Other than the defeat to Arsenal it was a very successful month for us and we now lead the Bundesliga by two points. We dropped the ball against Arsenal allowing the English side to pull us back in the race for top spot in the UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE group A.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Matchdays 4&5

LOSC Lille 0-1 Borussia Dortmund

Again Lille should have gotten something from the game, but they had to wait until the thirty fourth minute to get their first chance on goal. right back Sebastien Corchia shaking the goal to its foundations with an incredible shot, Roman Weidenfeller would not have gotten anywhere near it. This came at a point where they were chasing the game having gone behind to an early Marco Reus goal on nine minutes with an easy sweaty goal leaving Vincent Enyeama stranded in the middle of the Lille goal. They had the majority of the ball but just couldn't create enough chances against us, in the sixty first minute Marcos Lopes looked like he was through but Nathaniel Clyne managed to incredibly to get back and slide into put the ball out for a corner. Ten minutes from time Rio Mavuba was one-on-one with Weidenfeller but lost his cool at the crucial moment slicing the ball wide.

Arsenal 2-1 Borussia Dortmund

The game that really made it apparent that Sven Bender is the most crucial player of this team, Bender missing from this match due to serving a one match European suspension. Arsenal dominated us in midfield from start to finish and that was especially evident in opening fourty five minutes as the Englishman were able to cut through us with ease like a warm knife through butter. After just ten minutes Alexis Sanchez was able to waltz onto the edge of our eighteen yard box before floating a below par shot into the open arms of Roman Weidenfeller. On eighteen minutes they were again destroying us with their pass and move style, Sanchez again put through but the Chilean got flustered being under pressure from Erik Durm who's desperate lunge forced Sanchez to spoon the shot over the bar. Arsenal weren't going to keep missing chances though and exactly twenty seven minutes into the game, after we refused numerous chances to clear, the hosts took the lead through dat guy Welbz who steered the ball home with an awkward turn and shot. It wasn't all Arsenal in the match though, just three minutes later Ciro Immobile exposed Per Mertesacker's lack of pace and almost crept a shot in at the back post. Arsenal then went into heavy spells of meaningless possession football and were as such unable to break down our much improved second half backline. But something had to give and in the seventy seventh minute Santi Cazorla cushioned a chipped pass from Aaron Ramsey perfectly before firing the ball into he roof of the net. But you should know that my team doesn't give up easily and we pushed much harder for a goal and a goal was what we got in the eighty eight minute, Nathaniel Clyne fizzed in a inviting cross for Adrian Ramos and he made no mistake volleying the ball home to give us hope but sadly it wasn't to be and the better team won, in a way the loss was a good thing as it enabled me to really see how key Sven Bender is, he was also suspended for the following league match against Eintracht Frankfurt but more on that later.

Bundesliga Matchdays 10-13

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Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Koln/Cologne

This game left a bitter taste in the mouth despite our win and I shall now explain why. Firstly after just five minutes Ivan Klasnic was robbed of his first Bundesliga goal despite being level with his marker, then on fourty two minutes after dominating the game we conceded our first Bundesliga goal in more than a month after Daniel Halfar's golf shot landed in our net over the shocked Roman Weidenfeller. The team didn't panic and two minutes later drew us level, Marco Reus fizzed a gentle cross to Ashley Young who was sitting at the back post and hooked the ball in. With twenty minutes to go neither side had made much headway since the first half but something monumental was about to happen. Marco Reus jinked through the Koln defence and sliced through their defence with a pinpoint pass to Ezequiel Rescaldani. The Argentine let the ball run across his body and with all his might hit a ferocious, curling shot into the bottom left corner of the goal. He sprinted over to the Yellow wall, grabbed the Dortmund badge and screamed Das ist fur dich! (meaning, this is for you) Rescaldani has now shaken the monkey off his back but can he start scoring for fun? You'll have to wait and see.

Borussia MonchenGladbach 1-3 Borussia Dortmund

Without a doubt the biggest game of the month came away Gladbach at Borussia Park. We destroyed them as their downfall from the top started with this defeat to us. They just couldn't handle our high tempo, pressing style. But it still took us thirty seven minutes to break the deadlock it was worth the wait though. With some breathtaking pass and move football we weaved through their defence with such ease that you'd be surprised they were top of the Bundesliga at the time. It was through former Gladbach Marco Reus that we took the lead, after Erik Durm cut inside his shot was deflected off Marwin Schulz and out to reus who made no mistake hitting the shot first time onto the inside post where it managed to bounce in. Just three minutes later we doubled our advantage with a very effective free kick routine in which reus was able to put a low cross in for Ciro Immmobile to put home, the Italian was starting to find form. Two minutes into the second half our corner was half cleared to Ilkay Gundogan and he surprised everyone by volleying the ball first time past a bewildered Yann Sommer. Ten minutes later though Gladbach's strikeforce of Raffael and Max Kruse combined to give the latter a golden chance one-on-one with Timo Horn but Kruse scooped the shot wide of the goal and out of play. On the hour mark Kruse made no mistake though with a well aimed shot in Horn's bottom left corner giving BMG something to fight for. They huffed and puffed but nothing gave and we cut their lead to two points.

Borussia Dortmund 6-1 Mainz05

Before this game news seeped through that Leverkusen had beaten Borussia MonchenGladbach 4-1 at the BayArena. So going into the game we knew that a win would see us go top of the table and what a win, the biggest Bundesliga win of the season I might add. After three minutes we were leading, Ashley Young and Marco Reus combining for the first. Reus put in a cross which evaded all until Young latched onto it and lashed the ball home despite hitting Lorius Karius on the way in. On seventeen minutes Ashley Young sprinted almost the full length of the pitch and played a through pass to Reus who crossed the ball to Immobile to head into the net and make it 2-0! A tongue-in-cheek celebration followed as Immobile rolled around in mock agony, holding his face- a dig a recent jibes toward him diving and going down to easily. Goal three came on twenty three minutes after an incisive breakaway, Henrik Mkhitaryan had a weak shot parried and Reus managed to tuck in the rebound from an impossibly tight angle. With confidence high we kept pushing for more goals, five minutes before the first half was over Immobile won a controversial penalty (replays later confirmed it was a dive) and Marco Reus needed to score from the spot to secure a brace and he duly converted the spot kick to make it 4-0. By now it was clear that we were going to get our joy down the right flank through Reus and just a minute after goal number four Reus pulled the ball back to Young to dink the ball into the empty net. Our sixth goal sealed the Reus hat-trick and showed his predatory instinct, Young put in a drilled cross along the floor where Immobile attempted to steer it in but his shot was blocked but roll up Marco Reus to calmly control the ball and tap it in. Mainz' consolation was scored by Japanese striker Shinji Okazaki, Dortmund loanee Jonas Hofmann hit a defence splitting pass to Okazaki who just managed to get his shot away before being upended and seeing his shot whistle past Timo Horn.

Eintracht Frankfurt 0-1 Borussia Dortmund

Roman Weidenfeller yet again was crucial in winning us all three points in a difficult away trip to the Commerzbank Arena to play a Frankfurt side brimming with confidence. They repeatedly managed to catch us on the breakaway and we were nearly punished so many times, firstly in the ninth minute after Haris Seferovic burned away from Mats Hummels but got flustered and whacked his shot onto Weidenfeller's outstretched gloves. Nine minutes later Takashi Inui had a close range effort scooped up by Weidenfeller. We scored the only goal of the game on twenty three minutes, Pablo Aimar showed his quality with a brilliant pass to Rescaldani and the Argentine squared the ball to Pierre Emerick Aubamyeng who coolly chipped the ball in. The game was far from over and on thirty two minutes Haris Seferovic nodded the ball onto the underside of the bar and into Roman Weidenfeller's arms. In the seventy first minute Alex Meier was put through but for a rare change hit a poor shot which our keeper managed to save with his left leg.

Player of the month

You don't have to guess to hard to know who my player of the month is, and it is Marco Reus. He has been incredible in every game that he has played for us this season. Scoring four goals and creating chances aplenty for us to make sure we ended the month in top spot.

League Table*



*Table includes Matchday 14 win over Wolfsburg.

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Reus has shown why we offered him a new contract with some world class displays.

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Weidenfeller has won us points on his own this season and will be crucial in the run in.

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Top of the league- could another title win happen come May?

Just read through this story and it's a brilliant read.

Loving the graphics