'Absolute disaster': Hamann slams BVB tactic | OneFootball

After the late 3:3 against St. Pauli, Didi Hamann sharply criticizes BVB's kick-off trick. Even BVB boss Lars Ricken is surprised by the scene.

Borussia Dortmund squandered a seemingly secure victory at the start of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season with a 3:3 draw at St. Pauli. The Black and Yellows led 3:1 until shortly before the end, when the hosts were able to equalize within a few minutes - partly due to a controversial kick-off trick by BVB.

Expert Dietmar "Didi" Hamann expressed sharp criticism of the scene on the show Sky 90: "Psychology plays a big role, now you go there as the big BVB, get the 3:2 and are down to ten. It's normal that you come under pressure in the last few minutes. But if I then shoot the ball out and tell the opponent: 'I surrender and we defend the last ten minutes', then you give the opponent the feeling 'they are afraid of us'." Hamann described the action as an "absolute disaster".

The background to the action was a new tactic that Dortmund had already tested in the first cup round against Essen: After their own kick-off, the ball is played far out to immediately put pressure on the opponent in their own half. Against St. Pauli, however, the attempt did not have the desired effect. Instead of pressing the ball, St. Pauli was able to continue playing quickly, which ultimately led to the equalizer.

Lars Ricken surprised by BVB kick-off

BVB's Managing Director of Sports, Lars Ricken, was also surprised by the implementation: "At 3:2, I was actually surprised because we didn't get back quickly enough to press. They quickly took the ball, threw it in, and were able to start the next attack." Ricken emphasized that the players had independently decided how to execute the kick-off in this situation.

For Hamann, the scene primarily shows the psychological risks of such tactical experiments: "If I then shoot the ball out and thereby tell the opponent: 'I surrender, we are now defending the last ten, 15 minutes', then you give the opponent the feeling: 'They are afraid of us, maybe there's more to come'."

The action has already sparked discussions about how teams should handle their own kick-offs in critical game situations in the future - a trick that Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain also recently tested, but usually at an earlier point in the game.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.