Stoger´s small changes getting Dortmund back on track

Peter Stoger insists he has only implemented small changes in his first week in charge at Borussia Dortmund to turn their season around.

Dortmund had won just one of their last 13 matches in all competitions under Peter Bosz, but his replacement has instantly got the side firing again with consecutive victories to climb to third in the Bundesliga.

Their latest success – against Hoffenheim on Saturday – was secured through Christian Pulisic’s last-minute winner and Stoger noted the steady improvement.

“We have addressed only a few things,” he told a post-match news conference. “So many things we could not change.

“Again, there were many positive things about [the work by] my predecessor. Now we try to work with something else.”

On the latest win, Stoger added: “We had a chance early on to make it 1-0, but Hoffenheim have a strong passing quality.

“In the second half we carried out our game plan better, but it did not go completely right. The game could have always turned. However, the team put everything in.”

#bvbtsg #pulisic pic.twitter.com/dtOWwmw1xW

— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) December 16, 2017

Stoger was going head-to-head to with Julian Nagelsmann, the Hoffenheim coach having been linked with the Dortmund job.

However, Nagelsmann again denied prior to kick-off that the wheels had been set in motion for such a move, telling Sky: “There is no contact. I am concentrating fully on my team.”