Klopp: New signings add variety

Borussia Dortmund manager Juergen Klopp is pleased with the variety of options he has in his squad.

The Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League runners-up defeated Bursaspor 4-1 in a pre-season friendly in Austria on Saturday, with new signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among the goalscorers.

And Klopp feels the Gabon international and fellow addition Henrikh Mkhitaryan – the Armenian playmaker recruited from Shakhtar Donetsk – make his side more flexible.

“Auba (Aubameyang) definitely gives us some good options regarding the finalising of moves, we’ve already noticed that, and Henrikh has quality from a creativity point of view,” he said.

“We also played with two holding midfielders (Nuri Sahin and Ilkay Gundogan) that’s something we haven’t tried that often.

“This solution has benefitted us both at the back and going forward, and that was clear today.”

While the 46-year-old was pleased with their friendly victory, he feels Dortmund need to be more creative in their play as the new season approaches.

“We have tried to play little chip balls behind the defensive line a bit too often,” he added.

“But when you are faced with such a tempo I’d say that’s normal, we should certainly be trying to vary more.

“(But) why should one criticise it all? It was already very good and it showed us the potential we have for the future to improve.”