Paderborn had the better overall play! Borussia Dortmund remain stuck in the famously successful Niko Kovac dilemma

Borussia Dortmund also win their fifth competitive match of the season against Paderborn, but it was the promoted side who produced the more mature display. BVB also keep winning in the new season with football that is limited in substance.

Five competitive matches, five wins, three clean sheets, their best Bundesliga start since 2015: things are going very smoothly for Borussia Dortmund right now. The Westphalians have looked much as they did last season in the early weeks of this campaign. BVB are hard to beat, the defence stands firm and they are efficient in front of goal. There are easier opponents to face than Niko Kovac's side.

Still, it is very early in the season. Plenty can yet change and plenty can yet develop. It will take more matches before anyone can make a properly grounded judgement.

One thing can already be said, though: in footballing terms, Dortmund remain stuck in the familiar and successful Kovac dilemma. The club's brief to the coach before the season was clear. "Of course we also want to take the next step somewhere now," said sporting managing director Lars Ricken. His colleague Carsten Cramer put it like this: "Work and spectacle must complement each other, we want to make our mark in this area."

BVB superior against Paderborn? "I didn’t see it that way at all"

So far, neither has happened. BVB may have enjoyed a promising summer in the transfer market and brought in a player in Joey Veerman who can break through the usual Kovac U in build-up play from central areas and provide more variation. So far, though, the build-up has still not become structurally better, regardless of the different personnel line-ups or the after-effects of a Champions League match.

After his Paderborn side’s 3-0 defeat at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday afternoon, Sky asked Ralf Kettemann why BVB had been so superior. The promoted side's coach had the right answer: "I didn’t see it that way at all." For Kettemann, the difference between the two teams was their efficiency in the final third.

He was right. Compared with Borussia, SCP, who had previously failed to score and remain without a goal, showed the more mature structure and a clearly visible plan with and without the ball. At half-time, the visitors led the stats for touches in the opposition penalty area 15-8 and shots inside the box 5-1.

BVB still lack a collectively executed playing idea

Dortmund still led 1-0 because one well-worked counterattack (!), helped by a mistake in Paderborn's defence, was enough. Beyond that, BVB had major problems playing their way clear of the East Westphalians' man-to-man defending and moving the ball with purpose towards goal. The passing distances were often simply too big.

On the ball, the Westphalians still lack a collectively executed idea. That was also true in the previous matches, when creative player Konstantinos Karetsas was available rather than absent as he was on Saturday. The result was that, against a promoted side, BVB exerted no footballing dominance at any point across the game. Instead, Kovac's team continue to live off their individual quality, something underlined not least by substitute Felix Nmecha's two fine goals to complete the scoreline.

"I don’t think we played our best game. We found a way to win again. That is a good sign, but we made it difficult for ourselves, especially in the final third. That is something we have to improve," said Ethan Nwaneri. "That was a working win, they did not play well. For long stretches they found it incredibly difficult to break down the Paderborn side, who also had a lot of the game in the second half," was the analysis of Sky pundit Dietmar Hamann.

The old BVB refrain: football with limited substance

That should worry Borussia. Across many phases of the second 45 minutes, Dortmund could not settle the game, despite the new metronome Veerman and the later introduction of Nmecha. They pushed for the 2-0 and created chances to get it, but it did not come at first. Instead, Paderborn kept threatening in bursts around the Dortmund penalty area as they chased an equaliser.

The old refrain remains the same: this is exactly where BVB must improve, and Kovac cannot afford to stop developing the team. If that does not happen, the outcome is likely to mirror last season. Football that regularly brings wins and points, but is so limited in substance that the road quickly ends against opponents of equal or greater quality.

BVB: five games, five wins - but still no spectacle

There has been no sign yet of the much-quoted spectacle. That does not mean chaotic match patterns like the 3-2 win at Hoffenheim, when BVB offered nothing for 60 minutes and, despite improving after going 2-0 down, ended up winning very fortunately. Nor does it mean the collective passivity after taking the lead against Villarreal last Tuesday. It means dominant performances full of footballing class, tactical maturity, self-belief in possession and a constant threat in front of goal.

Kovac still has plenty of work to do before then. He will continue to get the time and opportunity to do it. The sheer number of wins speaks clearly in his favour and remains football's most important currency. Against Paderborn too. Especially with this stat in mind: with the win against SCP, BVB have won only their 38th game, out of 61, against a promoted side since 2012/13. Bayern Munich have won 53 of 60 such duels.

BVB fixtures: Borussia Dortmund’s next matches