Striker shortage forcing Tuchel to experiment

Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel says he is being forced to play some of his team in an unfamiliar striking role due to his lack of options up front.

Dortmund cruised to a 4-1 friendly win over Luzern on Tuesday in a game that saw Jonas Hofmann and Marco Reus both take up the position as a central striker.

The Bundesliga side face Juventus on Saturday before playing their first competitive game under Tuchel’s stewardship against Shakhtyor or Wolfsberger in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League four days later.

“There’s a little shortage in our centre forwards, and because during our friendlies we don’t want to give the players too many minutes and Adrian [Ramos] is not ready yet, so we’re trying different things,” Tuchel said.

“We tried Kevin Kampl in the centre but now we would like to give him a chance on his regular position on the wings, so that he could prove himself to us.

“Jonas had really good training sessions in different positions and showed us his versatility, and that’s why we want to see this yesterday in a game situation.

“And then it’s always weighing up how to do that. We want to get new ideas but on the other hand we need situations where we are comfortable.

“So that everyone knows where to go and to create chances. After half an hour we changed and put Marco through the middle up front. We knew already that he could play this position and that this would work.

“At the moment it’s kind of an experiment and Jonas showed us that he could play all positions offensively even though it was unusual to him.

“He is more effective for us at the moment if he comes from the wings. But in the middle it’s a really tough situation for us at the moment.”