Dortmund's Ricken not satisfied despite looming Champions League spot
Borussia Dortmund managing director for sport Lars Ricken speaks during a press conference where Borussia Dortmund's new coach is introduced. Borussia Dortmund managing director for sport Lars Ricken has said he won't be satisfied with the season, even if the team qualify for the Champions league in Saturday's Bundesliga finale. Bernd Thissen/dpa
Borussia Dortmund managing director for sport Lars Ricken has said he won't be satisfied with the season, even if the team qualify for the Champions league in Saturday's Bundesliga finale.
Dortmund in fifth will clinch a top four finish on their own if they beat relegated Holstein Kiel by three goals, regardless of the outcome of the duel between fourth-ranked Freiburg and number three Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Dortmund have staged a late comeback with six victories from seven unbeaten games to get into that position, after being ranked 11th and 10 points away from the top four a few weeks ago.
Ricken told an event Tuesday night hosted by the Ruhr Nachrichten paper and Radio 91.2 he was not satisfied because the team had been too inconsistent overall.
"It is of course not to our liking if mainz Freiburg and Gladbach (Borussia Mönchengladbach) are temporarily ahead of us," Ricken said.
"it took us three coaches, we had to sign additional players in winter, so not everything can have been good. And there was too much unrest in the club overall."
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Dortmund parted ways with inexperienced coach Nuri Sahin, a former midfielder at the club, in January, and interim coach Mike Tullberg was followed by Niko Kovac who eventually managed the turnaround.
Technical director Sven Mislintat, whose portfolio included squad planning, also had to leave. Dortmund were upset as well by harsh criticism from their external adviser Matthias Sammer, via his function as Amazon Prime pundit at Champions League broadcasts.
Ricken pledged that "we will reappraise all this" but added that there will be no major post-season shake-up.
"That will definitely not happen this summer," he said.
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