Peter Bosz has opened up about his spell as Borussia Dortmund manager. In a masterclass for Omroep Brabant, he explained why the German giants sacked him so quickly.
Held at the start of December at Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, the masterclass has been available on the regional broadcaster's website since Thursday. Someone in the audience asked Bosz whether he had ever made compromises to his vision when dealing with a top player who did not do what the manager wanted.
At Borussia Dortmund, Bosz says he did exactly that and later regretted it. He made an outstanding start in Germany, winning BVB's first five league matches and opening up a five-point lead over Bayern Munich at the top.
Then came a Champions League home game against Real Madrid, which Dortmund lost 3-1. "Then Sokratis Papastathopoulos, a Greek central defender, the goalkeeper and the defensive midfielder went to sit down together and said: 'That manager is completely mad. We're pushing up far too much. Just look, we're conceding three goals,'" Bosz says.
"They caused the team to really start falling apart. I should have acted then. I should not have entered into discussions with them, but should have kicked them out immediately. With what I know now, that is what I should have done."
Apart from Papastathopoulos, Bosz does not name the others, but he may have been referring to goalkeeper Roman Bürki and Nuri Sahin, who both played against Real Madrid and were regular starters at the time.
Eventually, Dortmund sacked Bosz in December 2017 after he managed to win only one of his last 13 matches. He also explained how, over dinner, Louis van Gaal wanted to know exactly what had gone wrong at Dortmund.
Problems with Aubameyang
"Aubameyang was my first-choice striker. When I arrived, the technical director had indicated that there would be no changes to the squad, except that Aubameyang would still leave for China," Bosz said to Van Gaal. "Dortmund would receive 87 million euros for the transfer and he himself could earn 24 million euros net per year there. Then I understand that he could not be kept."
In the end, the move collapsed. "Aubameyang was angry about that, especially because a week later the technical director said that no one else would be leaving the squad. Not long afterwards, Ousmane Dembélé was sold to Barcelona for 140 million euros. Aubameyang was angry and came into the dressing room a minute late every day."
Bosz then explains that he took Aubameyang aside. "He said it had nothing to do with me personally, but was because of the club. Aubameyang kept on being late. Then at one point I had a press conference and he had a French YouTube channel come by, which he was still hugely busy with a day before the match. That was the last straw for me. So I did not start him that weekend."
Van Gaal wanted to know what happened next. "'And then?' he asked. I told him I had not taken Aubameyang with me for the away game at Stuttgart. 'And then?' Van Gaal asked again. A day later I arranged a meeting with the whole squad there, because everyone had an opinion on it. And a day later Aubameyang trained with us again."
"Van Gaal then said: 'Mistake!!!! You should have sent him away.' I was completely shocked and pointed out that Aubameyang left for Arsenal the following winter for about sixty million euros. So I couldn't send him away, could I? Do you know what response I got from Van Gaal then? 'No, and then you were sent away.' That is true as well," Bosz concludes with a laugh.