Dynamo Is in Trouble—Only Goalkeeper Grill Is Satisfied

At least one person in the Dynamo camp was able to find a silver lining in the 1-1 draw at VfL Osnabrück. Yes, he was even satisfied. And he wasn’t wearing the yellow jersey—he was wearing orange. Dresden goalkeeper Lennart Grill celebrated a sort of comeback at the Bremer Brücke. 314 days after his serious knee injury, Grill was back between the posts in a competitive match—completely unexpected for him and the Dynamo organization.

“I found out on Friday evening. I was extremely surprised—I hadn’t expected that. But it’s nice that all the hard work has paid off,” said the goalkeeper, who suffered a torn patellar tendon shortly before the final whistle against Fortuna Düsseldorf on November 30 of last year.

A debut without major blunders—but not spectacular either

Grill was there when he was needed, but he was powerless to stop Robin Fabinski’s goal (87th minute) because, once again this season, the defensive positioning on a cross following a corner kick was off. “It was one of those typical games when you’ve been out for over 300 days. I had to get my feel for it back first. For the first game, it was okay, even if it was a frustrating goal. For me, the joy outweighs everything today. We’ll take the one point,” said the 27-year-old.

His rotation into goal was intended to give Dresden—which has flown under the radar in the standings so far—a new boost and shore up their previously weak defense.

“It’s about bringing in stability. I think we’ve averaged two goals conceded in the first six games. Sometimes, changes—whether in tactics, meaning the basic formation, or in personnel—can be helpful every now and then to find a bit of stability. And I saw that today, which doesn’t mean the decision was the right one,” said Dynamo coach Thomas Stamm. Whatever that may mean—including for Tim Scheiber, who was banished to the bench. 

As is so often the case, Dynamo lacked courage after the break

In principle, he felt his team had played a good game, except that they were unable to build on Niklas Hauptmann’s goal (38th minute) or hold on to the lead. The Saxons have already lost ten points this season in this manner. The team lacks conviction and courage. They have the feeling that they might lose.

“It’s about consistency—how we want to play soccer, and how we ultimately see our performance at the end of the day. And in the closing stages, we simply weren’t good enough with the ball. After a certain number of games, there are always statistics. That’s just how it is,” said Stamm, looking somewhat at a loss.

One thing that can be applied exactly to last season. Back then, too, Dynamo had only five points after seven games, and back then, too, things weren’t really working out—neither in defense nor in attack. And even back then, Stamm had the same explanations as he does now. Relying once again on the idea that a brilliant second half of the season could save the team from relegation is dangerous.

On Sunday, 1. FC Magdeburg—brimming with confidence—comes to Dresden for the Elb-Classico. It’s already a pivotal match. Osnabrück coach Timo Schultz, in any case, bid Stamm farewell with the words: “I think we’ll see each other at the return match.”