Working selflessly for the team as a target man

Borussia attacker Jordan didn’t get himself on the scoresheet as the central striker during the 3-1 win in Bochum, but he showed his qualities which can help the Foals in their attacking play.

“Strikers are judged on the number of goals they score” a well-known old saying goes in football. That certainly also applies to Borussia’s loan player Jordan, who scored his first goal for the Foals in our second-last away game at SV Darmstadt. However, the 27-year-old showed in the 3-1 win at VfL Bochum that he can help Borussia in different ways and doesn’t only need to score goals. “Jordan has a quality that we didn’t have within the squad beforehand,” head coach Gerardo Seoane said. “He’s a striker that works hard for the team and can keep hold of the ball and bring others into the game up front.”

The attacker demonstrated these qualities in last weekend’s away game. As he recently said he would in an interview with borussia.de, Jordan worked hard for the team in Bochum. He got involved in individual duels and was an important outlet in Borussia’s attacking play with his physique. “It was extremely important that Jordan kept hold of the ball up front. We were able to play off him as a result,” said managing director for sport Roland Virkus.

Despite being substituted in the 64th minute, the American entered into 36 individual battles, by far the most of any Borussia players, and very often with his back to goal and with an opposing player breathing down his neck. Even though at times he had to cope with two opposition players in the front line, he won almost two-thirds of his duels.

Moreover, the striker had a passing accuracy of 86.7 percent – the second-best in the team after Florian Neuhaus. That shows how well he managed to find his teammates and start attacks.  Neuhaus, the scorer of the opening goal, saved special praise for his colleague: “Jordan was a great target man who laid the ball off perfectly. That allowed the other attacking players to find the space and that’s how we created a lot of chances.”