Dortmund’s demise under Klopp is scary

WHAT is going on at Borussia Dortmund? I look at the team which lost 1-0 at home to Augsburg this week – Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Marcel Schmelzer, Kevin Grosskreutz, Ilkay Gundogan, Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa – and cannot believe they are currently bottom of the Bundesliga.

They may be only three points from 14th in an 18team league but the alarming bills are clearly ringing.

The sight of Hummels and keeper Roman Weidenfeller talking and pleading with The Yellow Wall at the end of Wednesday night’s defeat, rather than the usual unified waving and carrying on, was the first indication of unrest among Dortmund’s passionate followers.

Deep down, like me, they will believe their brilliant manager Jurgen Klopp (right), and his extremely talented squad, will get out of trouble and avoid relegation.

But their demise is scary and the fans are scared.

There is no doubt that Dortmund have been hard hit by injuries and of course they have lost Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski to Bayern Munich.

But they are still a good side, and Klopp has bought well, or so it seemed. They have managed to win just four games in 19, scoring 18 goals. Klopp has the players but he is the key to Dortmund getting out of this mess, and I am certain the board will stick by him.

I just hope he has the stomach for the fight even his cheery demeanour was battered this week. He looked a haunted man as he trudged off the pitch and I’ve seen that look a few times. A manager knows when he is beaten but I’m sure he’s ready for this after dusting himself down.

When he is able to field his strongest team, it is not too far removed from the one which thrilled us all on the way to the 2012 Champions League Final.

Klopp has built a brilliant team, together they have an unenviable rapport with those supporters as he’s taken them on a journey they couldn’t have dreamed of.

Three years ago, he could have probably taken any job in Europe. He was linked with Manchester United but signed a longer deal at Dortmund because he was building something.

The foundations are looking a little shaky at the moment.