What happens next for Marcel Schmelzer at Borussia Dortmund? The degraded BVB left-wing defender will not only include sporting motives in his thoughts about his future.
That a player who, like Christian Pulisic, has spent an essential part of his youth and the beginning of his professional career with the same club, is quoted once again in the fan curve is not an unusual process. Pulisic played his last of 90 Bundesliga games for Borussia Dortmund at the 2-0 victory in Gladbach and will kick for FC Chelsea starting next season.
Not entirely surprising, but at least remarkable, was the fact that Pulisic was the only player to have been dismissed, but the American was not the only one to stand alone in front of the fans and applaud them.
Applause and a yellow heart in the form of two emoticons were also given to Marcel Schmelzer by the official Twitter account of the BVB. Since the outgoing Pulisic could also be seen in this post, it seemed a little strange – as if Schmelzer’s departure was already certain.
Whether that will be the case, which Schmelzer himself says about his greatly reduced status under coach Lucien Favre, how he basically classifies his club’s season – you won’t learn all that. Schmelzer has not spoken publicly for several months. Somehow bizarre when you consider that in the two seasons before, the 31-year-old was still constantly hanging on to the microphones. Which, admittedly, was not due to his talkativeness, but to the captain’s office.
Schmelzer also had to wait several months, more precisely four months, for his 250th Bundesliga match – since 2008 all in Borussia kit. On the 33rd matchday, Favre gave him this extra time in the last home game of the season, a week later another seven minutes were added in Gladbach.
But Favre didn’t have more presents for Schmelzer, who was last allowed to play against Hannover 96 for 20 minutes on January 26th. Even though the personnel situation on the left-back position was explosive, the coach did not fall back on the services of the Dortmund veterans. Achraf Hakimi had the lead first, central defender Abdou Diallo after his injury, and when he was malad again, Favre preferred to order Raphael Guerreiro out of midfield into the four-man line-up.
It is therefore not only an iron, but also a loud silence, which Schmelzer prescribed for himself after his sporty descent. This started with an injury (bone oedema) after the 5th matchday, before the former international belonged to the regular formation in all seven compulsory games. Just like in all the years before.
Schmelzer’s contract with BVB runs until 2021 and his plan to spend his entire active career in Dortmund has been shaky for months. But what options has a player who has spent eleven years on the same club’s bones and won almost everything that could be won?
Schmelzer will not use exclusively sporting motives in his considerations about his future. In 2005, he moved from FC Magdeburg to the Borussia Youth Centre, which was then run by today’s goalkeeper coach Matthias Kleinsteiber and his wife. Since then Schmelzer has been deeply rooted in the city, the club has burned itself into his heart forever anyway. Does it make sense to take on a new challenge abroad or exaggeratedly even in Bochum?
There is no doubt that Schmelzer is now stuck in a dilemma. After all, and this will certainly have had an extreme value for him and his thoughts, he felt the appreciation of the fans at his two short appearances on match days 33 and 34. Their headwind, to put it bluntly, has been the social networks that Schmelzer has been exposed to since the 2015 cup finals, when he was seen as one of the main culprits behind Thomas Tuchel’s dismissal.
After the tremor victory against Düsseldorf, however, the south stand called the jubilarian to the front and sang a loud “We are all Dortmund boys”, garnished by a poster with the clear message: “To the next 250 – thank you Schmelle! And finally in Gladbach there was the once again acclaimed walk into the bend, which can be interpreted as farewell – but which it does not have to be compelling.
According to current information, Schmelzer is expected to remain in Dortmund in the coming season as well. The left-back is held in very high esteem by the club and, like his former buddy Nuri Sahin, plays an important role in moderating the dynamics within the cabin.
If Schmelzer is satisfied with an existence as a reservist that Favre only uses in rotation games or emergencies, he could play a similar role to Roman Weidenfeller in the future.
After purchasing Roman Bürki in 2015, the long-time goalkeeper had willingly taken a seat on the bench during his last three career years and ended his career there with sporadic appearances.
A future at Borussia Dortmund would certainly be Marcel Schmelzer’s favourite. Then the BVB could also post more applause emoticons on Twitter when Schmelzer plays. But a summer break is long – and usually eventful.
