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Dortmund boss Hans-Joachim Watzke defends Marco Reus and Lucien Favre against criticism

By Rune Gjerulff   @runegjerulff

At Borussia Dortmund's annual shareholders' meeting on Thursday, club CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke came to the defence of Marco Reus and Lucien Favre.
Hans-Joachim Watzke.
Hans-Joachim Watzke.Photo: Marco Verch, CC BY-SA 2.0
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has defended captain Marco Reus and head coach Lucien Favre against criticism.


Asked about the future of Reus, who has struggled to find his best form since returning from a long-term injury ahead of this season, Watzke underlined how much he values the 32-year-old.

"Marco Reus is our captain and has a very important role for our club as a BVB veteran," Watzke said at the club's annual general meeting on Thursday and added:

"Marco was injured for a long time. Unfortunately, that's what happens in football, especially for attacking players. You have to give someone who was out for seven months the time to get into a top condition.

"He will clearly still be important for BVB, and his sporting ability is completely indisputable for me. We are very happy that he plays for BVB."

Watzke also backed BVB coach Lucien Favre, whose future has been subject to a lot of speculation.


Since Favre took over the reins in 2018, Dortmund have finished runners-up to Bayern München two times in a row.

The Swiss coach only has a German Super Cup to his name so far, but Watzke doesn't feel it's fair to judge the 63-year-old only on his lack of titles.

"I'm not going to have a discussion about the coach here and want to take a stand for Lucien Favre. You can't judge a coach solely on whether he wins the championship or not. In the two years that Lucien has been with us, he has had to compete with the best team in the world," said Watzke.


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