“I won’t stand for that” Sahin responds sharply to questions on Dortmund’s mentality

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Nuri Sahin expressed significant frustration with his Borussia Dortmund side on Friday night. One of his main concerns was how his team allowed trouble to arise from a poorly defended throw-in, something he found “extremely” frustrating. However, he strongly rejected another criticism.

After a less-than-impressive 2-1 (1-0) Bundesliga win against newly-promoted FC St. Pauli, Sahin made it clear that he wasn’t thinking about the upcoming Champions League clash with Real Madrid. “Real Madrid isn’t on my mind tonight,” the Dortmund coach said. He reviewed the game before bed and likely identified even more areas of concern.

Despite Dortmund controlling large portions of the match, they allowed St. Pauli to stay competitive through careless turnovers and individual mistakes. In one particularly frustrating sequence, Sahin had seen enough. Matthias Sammer, visibly upset in the stands, mirrored the mood of the Dortmund coach.

“That’s an unacceptable issue. We must do better,” Sahin told DAZN. A long throw-in caused major problems for Dortmund, nearly costing them the win. St. Pauli’s Jackson Irvine was able to extend the ball, and Adam Dzwigala scored unchallenged. Sahin pointed out that it wasn’t the first time his team had struggled in this situation. “We conceded a similar goal against Celtic, against Union, and now again. It’s very annoying, especially since we had addressed this very scenario.”

“For God’s sake”
Sahin emphasized that such moments are critical. “These scenes decide whether we finish with 13 or 11 points,” he warned. A late header by Serhou Guirassy (83′) secured the three points for Dortmund, after Rami Bensebaini had opened the scoring just before halftime (43′).

When the topic of mentality, often a talking point with Dortmund, was raised, Sahin was visibly agitated. “This team doesn’t have a mentality problem. You can’t play at this level with a weak mentality. I won’t tolerate anyone talking about my team like that. For God’s sake,” he insisted. “But we do need to recognize that to be a top team, we have to deliver results every three days. The issue isn’t mentality.”

Although BVB secured another home victory, with four wins from four games, their focus now shifts to Tuesday’s Champions League match against Real Madrid. “We know what’s coming,” said Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl, who believes the team can take inspiration from Stuttgart’s recent narrow loss at the Bernabeu. “Stuttgart showed it—there will be space, and I believe we can take advantage of that.”

With a depleted squad and little time to prepare, recovery will be crucial ahead of the Real Madrid clash. Sahin has just one training session on Monday to address the issues from the St. Pauli game. “Then we’ll get to work,” he concluded.

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