Borussia Dortmund opened the Bundesliga season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Although Erling Håland scored two of Dortmund's goals, the outstanding performance of the match belonged to Giovanni Reyna. Reyna scored one goal, earned a penalty which was converted by Håland, and tormented the Gladbach defense from start to finish.
Dortmund have done it yet again. The brilliance of the Ruhr club's scouting department and youth development program has made itself evident once more. Their track record over the last decade or so has been truly remarkable.
This is a club which has allowed the following players to rise to prominence: Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Christian Pulisic, Jadon Sancho, and now Håland; Reyna and Jude Bellingham appear to be next in line. The club was also the place where Jürgen Klopp emerged as one of the world's best coaches.
This leads to the question: just what have Dortmund been doing that has put them so far ahead of the curve in this area?
Just as is true of any other football club, it all starts from the top. Reinhard Rauball has done an absolutely incredible job. His emphasis on and investment in young rising stars has become a core part of Dortmund's identity. It is largely thanks to his efforts that many players who cut their teeth at Dortmund have become so coveted by the world's leading clubs.
Dortmund have also always been extremely savvy in the transfer market. Although they might not possess the financial might of rivals Bayern Munich, let alone the wealthiest clubs in the world like Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, Die Schwarzgelbe are almost always able to maximize their limited transfer budget by picking up emerging players from unlikely sources who might often be overlooked by other top clubs.
To provide examples of this fact, Lewandowski was signed from Lech Poznan. Aubameyang was brought in from Saint-Étienne. Håland came to Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg. Kagawa was signed from Cerezo Osaka.
For a club to have that kind of success from signings made from clubs like those over a sustained period is almost unheard of. Yet somehow, Dortmund have managed to pull it off again and again.
Dortmund's youth academy might very well be the world's best right now. When people think of clubs with some of the best youth academies in the world, those which often come to mind include Ajax, Barcelona, Liverpool, and Manchester United. However, Dortmund's is not only often overlooked - it might very well be the best of the lot.
This factory of talent has produced players such as Pulisic, Sancho, Reus, Marcel Schmelzer, Nuri Sahin, Antonio Rüdiger, and Mario Götze, just to name a few. The success rate of Dortmund's youth academy is truly remarkable. A tremendous amount of credit must be given to youth coordinator Lars Ricken as well as the rest of the academy staff - it is they who in large part have made it a relentless generator of footballing talent.
Another factor which is not often considered but undoubtedly plays a role in Dortmund's success is the culture of the team. The most obvious example of this, however, cannot be seen right now due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Yes, you've guessed it - the iconic "Yellow Wall" t the Westfalenstadion - perhaps the most intimidating home stand in word football. When playing in front of a raucous, almost rabid crowd like that, how could a young player not get a psychological boost?
The fact that the club has always encouraged and promoted the development of young stars as well as players often overlooked has also shaped the club's culture for the better. This is a team which thrives on its culture, and its results over the last 10 years clearly speak for themselves.
Hopefully I am not letting my biases cloud my opinion when I say this, but I honestly believe that Borussia Dortmund are in the top five and perhaps even the top three as far as the best-run football clubs in the world are concerned. Dortmund are truly a club which should serve as a role model for a great many others, and there seems to be no reason why this should end any time soon.
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