Sammer slams 'immature' Dortmund as Sancho & title-chasing novices stumble ..........

Sammer slams 'immature' Dortmund as Sancho & title-chasing novices stumble in Bundesliga battle

A club icon has questioned whether those being charged with trying to fend off the threat of Bayern Munich are ready for such responsibility
Jadon Sancho and Borussia Dortmund’s title-chasing novices have been slammed as “immature” by club legend Matthias Sammer, with the Bundesliga leaders enduring an untimely wobble.

Lucien Favre’s young side have earned plenty of plaudits this season and appeared set to end the domestic dominance of Bayern Munich at one stage.

They are still four points clear at the top of the table, but have played a game more than their closest challengers and won only one of their last five games in the German top flight.

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Dortmund’s most recent setback came away at Augsburg on Friday, as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat, and their ability to sustain a challenge for the crown has been called into question.

Sammer, who won two titles and the Champions League during his time at the Westfalenstadion, told Eurosport on how the positive of youth is now becoming a negative: “This is Borussia Dortmund, where people think: ‘We are already the German champion’.

“But they are immature. You could see it for some time now.

“Do all the players really know what they are up against? [Achraf] Hakimi does not, Sancho does not, [Dan-Axel] Zagadou does not. They do not know.

“Those three, plus ten kilometres less running overall and you have a match where you play with four players less.”

Sammer added on the supposed lack of maturity in the Dortmund ranks: “That's what makes champions.

“But you can't be a champion, when you're 19 or 20 years old. Sancho is 18... how is that supposed to work?

“Of course there are factors like tactics, positioning, spaces, but that match is decided in your head. More in the head than with your legs.


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“Look at the team and the players I just mentioned and their potential. It is not always about reaching your full potential, but with 60 or 70 per cent it does not work.”

England international Sancho has starred for Dortmund this season, despite the recent stumble as a collective.

He has netted eight goals and recorded 10 assists in the Bundesliga and will be hoping to make more of a telling contribution over the coming weeks as a first title since 2012 is chased down.