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Dortmund preview for Champions League found @ http://www.worldsoccer.com/ by clicking this link you are leaving koller.be.de, so the webmaster has no responsibility for this page. PROSPECTS For Borussia Dortmund, the lesson of last season was clear - more firepower needed. As willing as they were, front-runners Fredi Bobic and Billy Reina simply did not score enough goals in 2000-01. So it was no surprise when Dortmund's chief recruiter, sports director Michael Zorc, again turned to the proceeds of the club's stock market flotation to reconstruct their strikeforce, paying Anderlecht £7million for Czech man-mountain Jan Koller and Parma £16m for Brazilian Marcio Amoroso - the latter deal involving cash plus Brazilian defender Evanilson, who should join the Italians next season. The marriage of Koller's bulk and aerial threat to the speed and virtuosity of Amoroso has the potential to be a most happy one. Also vital to Dortmund's plans is Czech playmaker, Tomas Rosicky. Immediately after his £8.3m move from Sparta Prague last December, some suggested he was too raw and not worth the outlay. But the starlet did not waste any time in making a name for himself in the Bundesliga and his touch, intelligence and stamina will be a godsend in the European tests ahead. Never one to go overboard with emotion, even coach Matthias Sammer is showing excitement at the attacking potential at his fingertips. Yet the former Germany skipper and libero has problems too. Borussia looked tentative defensively in pre-season, Ghanaian forward Otto Addo is out for six months with damaged knee ligaments, while opinionated and provocative keeper Jens Lehmann continues to be booed by sections of the Westfalenstadion crowd, who dislike him because he used to play for arch-rivals Schalke. It is hard to see a truce being called. SQUAD Number-Name-Born-Country GOALKEEPERS 1 Jens Lehmann 1969 Germany 20 Philipp Laux 1973 Germany 34 Michael Ratajczak 1982 Germany DEFENDERS 2 Christian Worns 1972 Germany 5 Jurgen Kohler 1965 Germany 6 Jorg Heinrich 1969 Germany 7 Stefan Reuter 1966 Germany 21 Christoph Metzelder 1980 Germany 23 Ahmed Madouni 1980 France 38 Florian Thorwart 1982 Germany MIDFIELDERS 3 Evanilson 1975 Brazil 4 Miroslav Stevic 1970 Yugoslavia 10 Tomas Rosicky 1980 Czech Republic 14 Guy Demel 1981 France 15 Sunday Oliseh 1974 Nigeria 16 Sead Kapetanovic 1972 Bosnia-Herzegovina 17 Dede 1978 Brazil 18 Lars Ricken 1976 Germany 24 Kurtulus Oezturk 1980 Turkey 27 David Odonkor 1984 Germany 28 Francis Bugri 1980 Germany 0 0 FORWARDS 8 Jan Koller 1973 Czech Republic 9 Fredi Bobic 1971 Germany 11 Heiko Herrlich 1971 Germany 13 Giuseppe Reina 1972 Italy 19 Otto Addo 1975 Ghana 22 Marcio Amoroso 1974 Brazil 29 Jan Derek S¿rensen 1971 Norway 30 Conor Casey 1981 USA 42 Salvatore Gambino 1983 Italy COACH Matthias SAMMER TACTICS/FORMATION 1 Lehmann 2 Evanilson 3 Worns 4 Kohler 5 Dede 6 Stevic 7 Ricken 8 Rosicky 9 Sorensen 10 Koller 11 Amoroso Sammer is likely to favour an attack-conscious 4-3-3 formation. No libero will be used, with Christian Worns and Jurgen Kohler playing in a line in central defence alongside Brazilians Evanilson and Dede at full-back. The latter duo will push forward at every opportunity to turn the system into a 2-5-3. Sammer will probably choose two deep midfielders from Miroslav Stevic, Lars Ricken, Sunday Oliseh, Stefan Reuter and Jorg Heinrich, and give Rosicky freedom to float and create. Koller and Amoroso are certainties up front, but Addo's injury may give a chance to Norwegian Jan Derek Sorensen, who faded from view after arriving from Rosenborg midway through last season. If he fails to deliver, Reina or Ricken could come in on the right. Heiko Herrlich has beaten the brain tumour diagnosed last year and will serve as a back-up striker. COACH Matthias Sammer "All the players we have brought in for the new season have great qualities, that's beyond question. What will be decisive is how quickly they integrate to our style of play. I need every member of the squad here. In terms of strength in depth, we are a little light compared to Bayern Munich, for example." |
