BVB chief laments the lack of 'courage' in draw against Union Berlin

Borussia Dortmund's sporting director Nils-Ole Book was disappointed to see his side lacking in the courage to take the game to Union Berlin in the Bundesliga as the rivals drew 0-0.

The BVB were underwhelming for most of first 60 minutes, failing to create anything meaningful besides one big chance for Maximilian Beier off a cross from Julian Ryerson which the forward fired wide.

Although Fabio Silva and Mathis Albert, making his first league appearance of the season, injected some much-needed urgency and intensity to Dortmund's attacking forays, a goal remained elusive as Niko Kovac's side were frustrated.

Ole Book felt the BVB weren't bold enough until late on.

We’re disappointed. We wanted to do a lot more. To get in behind, you need to be play with more courage all over the field. We started doing that far too late.

He feels Dortmund are a different ballgame altogether when actually going at their opponents and pressing:

When we're bolder, we play really good football and are able to put pressure on our opponents.

As it's been the case in a few other games this season, the Prussians looked more dangerous going forward after subbing in players off the bench.

While Konstantinos Karetsas went off injured, Silva and Albert played a vital role in progressing their attacks as Union Berlin were visibly rattled in defense.

In one key moment, Guirassy came in with a wonderful chance but his shot came off Albert's shin after the American lost balance from a challenge from a Berlin defender.

Ole Book pointed this facet of making late surges in a game as something that needs to be worked on.

We have a specific problem. When we trail — as we did in Norway — or when we feel like time is running out late in a match, we play much better. That’s the issue we need to focus on.

Dortmund had the territorial dominance and finished with 64% possession, but struggled to turn them into meaningful goalscoring opportunities once again with Union Berlin staying firm and resolute at the back without ever leaving too much space in behind for them to exploit.

For a side that had conceded the second highest number of goals in the Bundesliga coming into the fixture, it was genuinely a surprise to see them defend with such coherence and organization as Dortmund were severely deprived of ideas to break them down.