How Borussia Dortmund are trying to recreate the exciting BVB of the past as they rebuild with youth under Niko Kovac

There is optimism at Borussia Dortmund again. A new season upon the German giants and the sense of a team not just rebuilding but recapturing something lost. “Overall, we are mixing a good team,” explains head coach Niko Kovac at the club’s training ground. <p>"Four players left. We bought some new talented players and also one experienced player. So we kept the spine, the experienced players, the goalkeeper, the centre-back, the midfielder. And now we are trying to create the BVB, I would say, from the past."</p><p>That means the sort of talents who can thrill the fans packed onto that Yellow Wall, those able to play the rock-and-roll football that has defined Dortmund since the days of Jurgen Klopp. More counter-pressing, less control. Football with a bit more feeling.</p><ul><li><strong>Want to watch Bundesliga football? </strong></li><li><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_clubbloglink" target="_blank"><strong>Latest Sky Sports deals</strong></a><strong> or</strong> <a href="https://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports/football?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_clubbloglink" target="_blank"><strong>stream games with no contract</strong></a></li></ul><widget id="5"></widget><p>Dortmund had drifted away from this core principle. The focus shifted to older signings. It was seen as an attempt to protect their position, prioritising the need to play it safe in an attempt to guarantee Champions League qualification. Not very Dortmund.</p><p>The experienced player Kovac refers to is Joey Veerman, a 27-year-old midfielder from PSV Eindhoven. But it is the acquisition of two Greek wingers, the eye-catching Giannis Konstantelias and the 18-year-old prospect Konstantin Karetsas, that has fans talking.</p><p>In the <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/dortmund-vs-bayern/report/556006" target="_blank">Franz Beckenbauer Supercup</a>, the atmosphere inside Signal Iduna Park ignited when Konstantelias came on for the second half and started running at Bayern Munich's defence. Dortmund were desperately close to turning around a two-goal deficit.</p><p>Speaking to Julian Ryerson afterwards about his new teammates, the experienced Norwegian said: "It looks positive, yeah. We also had some good players last year but I hope it takes us to a new level, of course. I hope and I think that we are on a good path."</p><p>It will not be easy. Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt were proven in the Dortmund black and yellow. They are gone now. "We need to replace these goals, it is clear," says Kovac. "Of course, when you buy new players, you never know if it is going to work or not."</p><p>But perhaps that's part of the thrill. Dortmund are daring to dream once again, gambling on the potential for greatness, hoping for more. "Our expectations are high because we saw that, especially the offensive players, the two Greek ones, they have a big talent."</p> <widget id="2"></widget><p>Is Kovac the man to coax out that talent? He is a proven winner but one who has something of a reputation for prioritising perspiration over inspiration so it will be fascinating to see whether he can provide the framework for these youngsters to thrive.</p><p>What is Niko Kovac football? When that question is put to the man himself, he admits it is something that he once asked a friend. His reply? Successful football. It is a fair point. Kovac won the cup with Eintracht Frankfurt and then the double with Bayern Munich.</p><p>But he knows that his particular brand is sometimes seen as limited compared to his more celebrated peers. Kovac has dabbled with inverting his wing-backs of late but his tactical tweaks are less likely to be pored over than those of Bayern's Vincent Kompany.</p><p>"If someone likes my style, this is up to you. For me, we are successful. And I think that, together, since we arrived, we did a very good job. As a coach, I think you need to see what kind of players you have, what situation you have, and you must always adapt."</p> <widget id="3"></widget><p>That is exactly what Kovac did when he joined Dortmund in late January of 2025 with the club in a perilous position in the wrong half of the Bundesliga table. The team had completely lost its identity and looked in disarray, European qualification a long shot.</p><p>Speaking to Carsten Cramer about this, Dortmund's chief executive is clearly still grateful. "Imagine what happened when we hired him one-and-a-half years ago. We were in regions we never should be and he brought us to the Champions League."</p><p>Cramer adds: "He is committed. He loves to work for the club. Black and yellow fits him, I would say, much better than the red and white [of Bayern] or the green and white [of Wolfsburg]. I am 100 per cent sure that he is the right man at the right moment."</p> <widget id="4"></widget><p>The credit that Kovac has in the bank is thoroughly deserved. "I arrived in a bad situation," he says. He changed things. "The squad was planned with a back four, but after two or three games we saw it was not working so we changed into the back five."</p><p>He adds: "This was from the tactical perspective. What was also obvious was that the physical capacities, how I see football, how I see a fully fit player, was not there. So we worked on this. With those physical abilities you're immediately a better football player."</p><p>His reasoning is that through improved fitness, the decisions on the pitch become easier. "Without those physical abilities, you are calculating. Should I run backwards? Should I run forward? Should I defend? Should I attack?" If you are fitter, you just do it.</p><p>"This was a little bit tricky because when it is not working players always fall into the same old habits, so it took a little bit of time. But we finished fourth." From there, Dortmund had a platform and they used it to finish in second spot again last season.</p><p><img alt="Borussia Dortmund attacking radar before and after Niko Kovac" src="https://e0.365dm.com/26/08/master/skysports-niko-kovac-borussia-dortmund_7330174.jpg" /></p><p>The gap to Bayern ended up being 25 points at the end of his first season. It reduced to 16 points last time around. When it is framed like this, a title challenge still feels some way off. "To close this gap, a lot must happen." Dortmund must play above themselves.</p><p>"It is also important that Bayern Munich is not playing top," he concedes. The frustration in the recent past is that chances have come and not been taken. They tossed a title away on the final day in 2023 and saw Bayer Leverkusen end Bayern's streak in 2024.</p><p>But the hope - always the hope - is that the fusion of his discipline with the high ceiling of the new talent means there are possibilities once more. Can they do it? "I do not like to speak first and then work," says Kovac, smiling. "I think the opposite way is better."</p> <widget id="1"></widget>