Marco Reus and his lack of resonance with Dortmund

Marco Reus, the player who had set the world alight with his footballing charisma once has now been out of the headlines for quite some time now. The player has not been his usual self on the field and that has, quite visibly, affected Dortmund in an adverse way. His last season was plagued with injuries which kept him out of major action but even then, he was offered a new contract by the club which cannot afford to lose another golden product of their crop.

Reus signed his new contract this February and removed the buyout clause of 17.5 million GBP which could have been triggered this summer by a number of interested clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United. Reus has been loyal to his boyhood club and wants to stay and play for Dortmund but keeping this aside, his performances haven’t been worth praise over the last two seasons. And the decline of his performance surely has overseen the decline of his club’s performance.

A football club achieving great results without even a single outstanding performer is unheard of but time and again we have witnessed bodacious players who take their clubs to another level, Reus being one example himself. Last season, Reus remained injured or a total of 113 days.

We all know how that turned out to be for Dortmund. They finished 7th in the Bundesliga, lost to Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal final and were knocked out as early as the Round of 16 from the Champion’s League by Juventus. He was able to play only 29 of the 49 games his club played creating 17 goals for the club whereas was responsible for 81 goals in 93 matches in all competitions in his first 2 seasons. When playing to his potential, the player is an absolute attacking genius. With his sleek built and swift movements, Reus has been able to hassle his opponents, the best of which was surely seen in the Champion’s League group stage fixture against Real Madrid at the Signal Iduna Park in the 2012/13 season where he scored both the goals.

This season’s start has been positive for Reus as he has featured in 7 of the club’s 9 Bundesliga matches where he has scored 3 and also created a goal. But even then, Dortmund only has 20 points out of a possible 27. The club’s new manager has produced some good results but also has a few disappointing ones to his name, namely the heavy 5-1 defeat at the Allianz Arena and draws both at home and away with Darmstadt and Hoffenheim, respectively. For the magic to return to the Signal Iduna Park, Reus must come back and start producing performances he is capable of producing. He sure is going to be pivotal in deciding Dortmund’s fate this season, to be or not to be amongst the powerhouses of Europe.