Player Focus: Tuchel's Tactical Discipline Limiting Reus' Offensive Influence

In recent years, German football has undergone a complete overhaul in order to match the expectations of the country. Teams completely revamped their youth setup following a failure to navigate a way out of Group A at Euro 2000, with the rewards clear for all to see 14 years later. Mario Götze’s extra time winner against Argentina was the culmination of all that hard work as the national team secured World Cup glory last summer for the first time since 1990.

Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels and Manuel Neuer were among those to impress in Brazil, but a key player who missed out due to injury was Marco Reus. The 26-year-old has been one of the finest talents in German football in recent seasons, continuing to light up the Bundesliga and Europe, with his directness in possession and quality in front of goal stand out traits. However, while Reus was at times unplayable during Jürgen Klopp’s reign at the Westfalonstadion - culminating in his initial call up for the 2014 World Cup - the Germany international has struggled to replicate his best form so far under Thomas Tuchel.

Die Schwarzgelben have started the season in impressive form with Tuchel at the helm, succumbing to defeat just the once in Germany’s top tier this term, that coming at the hands of Bayern Munich prior to the international break. The manner with which they lost - a 5-1 thumping at the Allianz Arena - was hardly ideal, but given Bayern’s dominance, and that being Tuchel’s first 'Klassiker' since succeeding Klopp, it can be considered a minor blip for now after an otherwise fine start. 

The new manager has brought out the best in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, to name three, while young defender Matthias Ginter looks to be fulfilling his potential and Ilkay Gündogan is once again controlling proceedings in the middle of the park following his recovery from injury. The Dortmund squad is settled on the Tuchel train to success, but Reus is stuck on the platform with the wrong ticket at present.

The German’s WhoScored rating (6.84) is his worst in the Bundesliga in the last seven seasons. No Dortmund outfielder to make at least three league starts has gained a worse WhoScored rating than Reus this season. It certainly marks a significant downturn in form for the Germany international, who has so far failed to perform at his best under his new manager.

Injuries have perhaps curtailed his impact, as has been the story for much of Reus’ time at for Dortmund. Of 110 possible matches, the attacker has failed to start 30.9% (34) since moving to the club in 2012. However, having started five of eight league games this season, it’s not as though Reus has not had the opportunity to impress. In fact, when handed the chance to lay a marker for what is to come, he has done what he can to net or create for teammates, with his averages of 2.3 shots and 1.7 key passes per game each ranking third of all Dortmund players.

However, while both rank highly for the club this season, they are among his worst in the last seven league campaigns. Only for Borussia Monchengladbach in the 2009/10 season (1.5 for both shots and key passes per game) has he performed worst over a campaign. Furthermore, an average of 0.8 successful dribbles per game is his lowest in the last seven Bundesliga seasons. It’s fair to say that Tuchel’s tactical discipline in comparison to that of Klopp is having an adverse effect on Reus’ offensive influence.

“I like heavy metal more. It is not serenity football - it is fighting football. That is what I like,” Klopp famously stated. The now-Liverpool manager’s ‘gegenpressing’ was effectively organised chaos at Dortmund and, as such benefitting Reus, who was granted greater license to leave a lasting effect in the final third. As Dortmund won possession in every section of the pitch, Reus - among others - was presented with more opportunities to exploit the space left behind in the opposition ranks. This approach won the team numerous plaudits, but as Klopp’s time at Dortmund came to an end, it became easier to defend against.

With Tuchel, Dortmund have been tasked with holding onto the ball more, with their possession average this term (60.1%) their highest in the last seven campaigns. This is clearly benefitting Aubameyang, Kagawa, Mkhitaryan and co., but Reus looks at a loss as to how to impact games. Defences have quickly learned to stifle the latter, which has seen his performance levels dip significantly.

This is also having an adverse effect on his national team form, with his average rating in Germany’s recent qualifiers an underwhelming 6.94. Joachim Löw also favours a more possession-based style, which is a further reason why Reus was unable to impress over the recent international break. Of course, a player of his calibre has not simply become a bad player overnight. Injuries have previously cropped up at just the wrong time when Reus begins to gain a head of steam, but this dip in quality is perhaps more of a cause for concern, adding weight to the notion that Reus is only capable of finding his best form in a set system, suggesting a lack of attacking versatility.

Without space to run into, Reus has been unable to get the better of opposition defences as frequently as he once did. Considering Dortmund have at times performed better without him on the pitch this term, Reus needs to alter his game sooner rather than later to match Tuchel’s needs if he is indeed to return to his best. Friday's trip to Mainz - Tuchel's former club - would indeed be as good a game as any to start.

Can Reus turn his form around starting with Dortmund's trip to Mainz on Friday? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below