Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel visits fanclub party amid row reports
Thomas Tuchel visited Borussia Dortmund's annual fanclub Christmas party on Monday amid claims of a row at the club.
Dortmund coach Tuchel had been strongly critical of Dortmund's performance in Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, which saw them drop to seventh in the Bundesliga, but his outburst was met with what local outlet Reviersport termed "deafening silence" from the club hierarchy.
Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Michael Zorc have made no statements to the media, and Reviersport reported that there are "disturbances in the atmosphere" at the club.
Tuchel appeared in good spirits at the fanclub party on Monday and was pictured on the club's official Instagram account sampling free beers and shaking hands with supporters, but BVB are enduring a tough spell and have now picked up only nine points from their last seven league games, and already trail league leaders RB Leipzig by nine points.
Tuchel -- who had said even prior to the Frankfurt loss that Dortmund's game was "too prone to mistakes to play less aggressively" -- said the team had been "deficient" technically, tactically, mentally and in terms of awareness after the match.
Dortmund conceded two poor goals, one only seconds after the beginning of the second half, and the other 66 seconds after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had pulled level for BVB with 13 minutes left on the clock.
"The manner in which we came out of the changing room -- I would have been surprised if we hadn't conceded a goal," Tuchel added.
Club captain Marcel Schmelzer told Reviersport that he could not comment on the news conference since he did not see it.
Ruhr Nachrichten, another local publication, and the broadsheet Sueddeutsche accused Tuchel of rotating his side too often, suggesting it had led to a lack of structure.
Dortmund have enjoyed a successful Champions League campaign, having already qualified from Group F, but BVB midfielder Julian Weigl said on Saturday that the approach to the competition had made life harder in the Bundesliga.
"It's always difficult if you train in different groups following a Champions League match," Weigl said. "Some rejuvenate, others train hard. Then you put the groups back together."
