Match winner Gittens: Super starter or “super sub” again?

Match winner against Bruges: Jamie Bynoe-Gittens
picture alliance/dpa

Substitutions and substitutions are part of football. It is therefore pointless to discuss whether Borussia Dortmund would have won their Champions League opener against Club Brugge (3-0) on Wednesday even if Jamie Gittens had not been sent onto the field by coach Nuri Sahin in the second half.

What is undisputed, however, is that the Englishman gave the game the decisive turn: thanks to his brace (76th, 86th), BVB were on the road to victory before Serhou Guirassy put the final point on the scoresheet with a penalty in the fifth minute of injury time to make it 3-0.

For Gittens, it was already the second match-winning performance of the season, having also scored both goals in the 2-0 win in the Bundesliga opener against Frankfurt – also as a substitute. This in turn leads to the difficult question in Dortmund as to which role the 20-year-old is currently most valuable for his club: as a starter or as a substitute? “No player in the world will be a super sub,” says Sahin, “and yet in every game there are five players who have to come in and make the difference.” Just like Gittens did recently in Bruges.

Arguments for further Joker deployments

On Friday, Dortmund’s coach told the anecdote that he had gone to his winger that morning to ask him whether he should bring him on from the bench for the next game in Stuttgart on Sunday or whether he should start. They both had to laugh, reported the Dortmund coach, who of course already knew his player’s answer: Finally, all footballers want to play from the start. I always prefer that.

However, as a starting player – for example in the 0-0 draw in Bremen – Gittens has been far less effective than as a substitute. Which in turn would be a clear argument for continuing to use him as a substitute. Sahin, however, does not want to assert this: “I thought that Jamie also played well from the start,” says the BVB head coach. “I’m completely taking the game in Bremen out of the equation because we didn’t get him into the situations there.”

Gitten’s maturation process and Sahin’s assistance

In fact, his abilities as a substitute are no reason not to bring him in from the start. “Jamie is simply too good for that,” says Sahin. The fact that he has now scored four goals from the bench does not mean to me that he will always come off the bench.” But it is also clear that Gittens must continue his maturation process in view of the high level of competition in Dortmund’s attack.

In addition to the Englishman, Karim Adeyemi, Donyell Malen, Maximilian Beier and the Belgian top talent Julien Duranville are also vying for playing time alongside Guirassy, ​​​​the only real number 9 in the squad.

Above all, the younger Borussia players – Gittens, Beier and Duranville – still have to develop, says Sahin – and are already doing so. “We have to give them a hand and help them on this path. That is our aim and the same as the boys.” Help also includes assessing when Gittens and Co could be “super subs” and when they could be super starters. Given the tight schedule, there will certainly be plenty of opportunities to help in the coming weeks and months.