Sven Bender has become the heart of the Borussia Dortmund miedfield during this season. With Gündogan out and Kehl playing a more supportive role, he stepped up and leaded a team that struggled to find the form and the success of the past campaign.
In a interview with SPOX, the 24 years old German, explains the reasons of this yet-to-gel Borussia Dortmund.
According to Bender, they "didn't have enough bite in crucial moments", giving as an example the game against Borussia Monchengladbach, where they dominated the game for 80 minutes, but they crumbled apart on the final 10 and suffered a defeat. "The victory was for us, not for Gladbach, it was a gift for them because we acted recklessly and negligently, we need to have that final punch back, win those games and never talk about what was wrong. The perfect football does not exist, but you can approach perfection".
He also claimed that they do not need to restart the style of play of Dortmund, because it is more about the gameplay on the pitch instead of having the wrong attitude, that the team it's still hungry for silverware. Bender also states that the mood of the team it's excellent because everyone is consolidated.
Borussia Dortmund is set to play on Saturday the first official game of the calendar year against Augsburg and so far they are fourth in the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach ahead of them, fighting for the Champions League spot.