🛑 Career on hold in Dortmund: have BVB stalled his progress?

In the 6th (!) minute of injury time, he briefly became BVB’s super-sub hero when, on the eighth Bundesliga matchday, he scored the golden winning goal against the newly promoted team from Cologne, preventing Dortmund from dropping two points in a game they absolutely had to win.

We’re talking about BVB striker Maximilian Beier. That super-sub goal is his most recent highlight—but before and after that, you’ll search in vain for more. And that’s somewhat puzzling for a player who actually brings so much quality to the table—in theory.

Perfect Start

His career got off to a really good start. On loan from TSG Hoffenheim, the then 18-year-old made the leap into professional football at Hannover 96—and did so quite respectably. Two years in the capital of Lower Saxony helped him mature as a footballer.

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After his return, he shone in Sinsheim with 16 goals in 33 Bundesliga matches for TSG, catching not only the eye of Borussia Dortmund but also coming into the focus of Julian Nagelsmann. In the summer of 2024, he was allowed to join the European Championship squad, moved to the Black and Yellows, and by then had at least set foot on the big football stage.

Career Brake at BVB?

And then? The big highlights failed to materialize, and it seemed as if Beier was treading water rather than making real progress.

One of the reasons: the attacking player joined his new club almost simultaneously with a coach who clearly misunderstood him. Under club legend Nuri Sahin, Beier was often only deployed on the right wing. He made it quite clear after Sahin’s dismissal that he was unhappy with this.

Shortly after Niko Kovač took over the team, he said in a talk with ‘Ruhr Nachrichten’: “Niko Kovač trusted me, and I finally got to play in the right position. When he asked the team which positions we wanted to play, I just wrote ‘striker’ on the note.”

So far, so good—at last, Beier’s wish for his preferred position was heard and acknowledged. You’d think things would really take off now, right? After all, Kovač now lets him play where Beier feels most comfortable: as a strike partner up front with Guirassy or as a second striker in the center and in the half-spaces behind the main striker—at least, when he plays.

Too Often on the Bench?

The problem: He’s not an undisputed starter at BVB. While Kovač relies on him more often than Sahin did, he’s still only played 562 out of a possible 900 Bundesliga minutes this season, according to ‘bundesliga.de’. For comparison: strike partner Guirassy missed just over a hundred of those minutes. And it’s unlikely to get any easier: with Adeyemi and the two new signings Silva and Bellingham, the competition for places in attacking midfield will remain fierce.

He also hasn’t had a major breakthrough with the national team, despite participating in the Euros. While he was involved during the last international break, he had to watch from the sofa against Luxembourg and Slovakia.

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So, more is expected from Beier—both by Kovač and by Nagelsmann.

Beier Is Actually a Real Doer

The core qualities of the now 23-year-old are obvious: when he’s on the pitch, he always gives EVERYTHING. He covers almost 12 kilometers per game on average and makes the third-most sprints of all BVB players. When it comes to speed, few can match him: after Adeyemi, Beier is the second-fastest at Dortmund. He also possesses high football intelligence, a great sense of space, and knows exactly how successful pressing works.

His commitment is reminiscent of Dortmund’s greatest. He’s not one of them yet, though—he’s neither a star in a BVB shirt nor a serious option for the German national team.

Why He’s (Still) Not a Star

Is the attacking player perhaps too much of a team player? For example: in the match at FC Augsburg, he filled in on the left flank due to a personnel shortage and received a lot of praise—but whether such experiments help his development in his main position is questionable.

The playing system isn’t necessarily tailored to his type of player, either. Under Niko Kovač, BVB often plays with wide wingers and early crosses from the flanks—attacking through the center? You’ll often look for it in vain. This footballing approach certainly limits the midfielders’ opportunities to shine here and there.

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But of course, Beier himself also contributes to the fact that he hasn’t yet made it as far in a BVB shirt as might have been possible. Especially in the last few BVB games, he hasn’t really impressed and often lacked sparkle.

Maximilian Beier is thus a player who always seems to give his all, but too often, it’s apparently without reward. Lots of effort, little result. That’s probably why the statistics remain just numbers and haven’t yet translated to the pitch. For example, in the City match, ‘Sport1’ gave him a grade of 5 for his performance, and for the away game against HSV, ‘RUHR24’ only rated him 4.5.

Currently, the 23-year-old is still some way off becoming a top player at BVB—or anywhere else. And that’s despite having many of the prerequisites. The question remains whether Dortmund is the right place for his development—or if he might succeed better elsewhere.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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