3 Ways Thomas Tuchel Can Make Borussia Dortmund Better in 2016

When Borussia Dortmund announced Thomas Tuchel as the man the club chose to follow in the giant footsteps left behind by the iconic Jurgen Klopp in April 2015, the then-41-year-old coach was met with intrigue, but some—if not many—supporters of the Black and Yellows would surely have been wary of the things to come.

Six months into his reign, even the most pessimistic fans have to admit Tuchel's appointment has been a resounding success to this point. "Tuchel's first months in charge have been a triumph of many small tweaks, on and off the pitch," wrote Raphael Honigstein for ESPN FC.

Dortmund's boss will have to make some more of those small tweaks, however, if his side are to achieve anything in 2016. There's a small number of areas of concern for the Black and Yellows, but once the games start getting bigger and bigger, even the smallest weakness could end up costing them dearly.

With that in mind, here are three ways Tuchel could make Dortmund better in 2016.

Get the Back-Ups Up to Speed

The second half of the 2015/16 is shaping up to be a busy one for BVB. If they have advanced to the round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League following their tie with FC Porto on February 25, they'll have to play 15 games in eight weeks until the international break in late March.

With a lot of midweek fixtures on the schedule, it's obvious Dortmund would need to rotate their squad in order to keep key players fresh and fringe players motivated in case they have to play them.

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A side like BVB will always be dependent on genuine superstars such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ilkay Gundogan, but Tuchel would do well to have contingency plans in place if he doesn't want an injury to derail this season.

There's some work to be done in that regard, especially offensively. Dortmund had only one back-up they could trust in their attacking ranks in the first half of the season: Gonzalo Castro. Players such as Adnan Januzaj and Adrian Ramos have to step up or the Black and Yellows' hopes and dreams will hang by a thread.

Settle on a Back Line

While we'd urge Tuchel to rotate his attacking players more often, the opposite seems like a good idea defensively. He selected a number of different combinations at the back during the first half of the season, with varying degrees of success.

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We attempted to find the best back line for 2016 in an earlier piece, and the pairing in central defence seems like the key to Dortmund's success this season. The struggles of Mats Hummels and Sokratis Papastathopoulos were glaring, but it looked like the skipper was on his way to returning to form when playing next to Sven Bender later in the year.

The converted midfielder has generally looked like the best of the bunch this season and has earned the right to stay in the lineup and grow in his new role.

Suppress Susceptibility to Counter-Attacks

Dortmund's imbalance between a mightily impressive attack and an at times questionable defence has been well documented in the last few months. 

If there's a blueprint to beat the Black and Yellows, it says to attack their midfielders high up the pitch, force them into errors in build-up play and hit them on the counter through the middle. 

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Hamburger SV and PAOK beat Dortmund that way, and other teams caused them problems as well.

In a way, that weakness is inherent to the playing style Dortmund have adopted under Tuchel. The full-backs are positioned very high on the pitch, and in Julian Weigl, there's usually only one midfielder on the pitch tasked with providing a cover for the back line.

The central defenders, then, also have to take some of the blame, especially the captain himself, as tactics blogger Constantin Eckner pointed out for Yellowwallpod.com: 

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Particularly when he is not in his best shape, when the season’s schedule draws on him, he gets caught too often—defensively and offensively. His progressive style of defending has been a risky game all along. It can work out beautifully if he leaves his position at the right moment with the required dynamic. It cannot work out at all if he just tries too hard even when his legs back out. On those occasions, Mats Hummels looks one-dimensional.

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Since one struggles to come up with a quick fix for this problem, it figures to be one Tuchel will have to work on a lot over the winter training camp in Dubai—and beyond.

Lars Pollmann is a featured columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for Yellowwallpod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.