Borussia Dortmund head coach Nuri Şahin responds to the 4-0 defeat in the pre-season: “If you don’t do the basics, you don’t play.”

Regarding the defeat, Şahin said:

“That was a heavy defeat, I didn’t like the basics at all”

In his post-match comments, the former midfielder insisted that the foundations for him must be good no matter what:

“The basics alone have nothing to do with the fact that you have heavy legs, which have to be right.” “The fact that the boys are tired doesn’t mean you can say: forget it. If you don’t do the basics, you don’t play.”

Several first-team players played in Dortmund’s 4-0 defeat to Pathum United: Julian Brandt, Karim Adeyemi, Youssoufa Moukoko, Felix Nmecha, Niklas Süle, Julian Ryerson and in the second half also Sebastien Haller and Ramy Bensebaini.

If Dortmund are to improve on their fifth-place finish from last season, they will need to play better, especially as the style of play will no longer be an issue with Edin Terzic gone. Dortmund will have a chance to rehabilitate themselves when they travel to Japan on Wednesday to take on Cerezo Osaka.

They then play matches against Villarreal and Aston Villa in Europe, before opening their season on August 17 against 1.FC Phönix Lübeck in the DFB Pokal.