2. Bundesliga: Third defeat in four games, where does Dynamo go from here?

Dynamo Dresden’s promising plans for the new season have quickly turned into a fight against a situation the club did not expect to face. After four matchdays, the team has one win and three defeats, including Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to VfL Bochum, and sits at the very bottom of the table.

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That is of course not our ambition.

“That is of course not our ambition,” said Tobias Raschl. The new signing from relegated Preußen Münster made his home debut after coming on against Bochum, but the post denied him an equalizer in the 68th minute. “We have to get out of there very quickly and add three points to the ones we have soon. But we imagined it differently,” Raschl said.

Coach Thomas Stamm offered a brief answer when asked how Dynamo could turn things around: “Winning next week in Braunschweig would help.” The result has created uncertainty because the squad is largely the same one that produced a strong second half of last season. Dynamo permanently signed almost all of the key players who had been on loan, but most have not matched their earlier performances, with Robert Wagner and, to some extent, Jonas Sterner as exceptions.

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We have to get out of there very quickly and add three points to the ones we have soon. But we imagined it differently.

One possible explanation is the change in pressure. Six months ago, many of those players arrived as largely unknown figures in a team with nothing left to lose. They could play freely. Now, the team expects them to reproduce that level, a responsibility they have not faced before.

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Winning next week in Braunschweig would help.

The tactical setup may also have changed. Dynamo appears to rely less on wing attacks reaching the goal line. Jakob Lemmer, Ben Bobzien and Kaan Inanoglu often move inside, while fullbacks Alexander Rossipal and Sterner join the attack less frequently. That makes it easier for opponents to defend attacks coming through the middle. Defensive and buildup mistakes under high pressure, including those involved in Koji Miyoshi’s two goals, have compounded the problem. Stamm acknowledged that Dynamo’s play in possession was unusually untidy, with too many recoveries followed by poor transitions.

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It was a very, very unusually untidy game in possession. We won the ball back many times, but then we were very untidy in transition.