BVB boss Kovac confirms early exit from coaching staff

Niko Kovac confirms the early departure of set-piece coach Alex Clapham at Borussia Dortmund’s training camp. Now it is clear how BVB plans to cover his responsibilities in the future.

At Borussia Dortmund , there is a personnel change in the coaching staff at the start of the new year. Set-piece coach Alex Clapham has left the club before his contract expired. The mutual separation was confirmed at the training camp in Marbella, Spain, by head coach Niko Kovac.

“His contract was set to expire in the summer anyway. We both came to the conclusion that it’s best to go our separate ways now,” said Kovac after the first training session on site. BVB will cover the Englishman’s responsibilities internally; an external replacement is not planned.

Clapham was brought to Dortmund in the summer of 2024 by then-coach Nuri Sahin—initially as a technical coach, later with a clear focus on set pieces. Even after Sahin’s departure, the 36-year-old remained part of the coaching team and continued to work under Kovac.

Recently, however, the effectiveness of Dortmund’s set pieces has come under increased criticism. Especially after the DFB-Pokal exit against Bayer Leverkusen (0:1), there was public debate that too little danger was created from the numerous corners and free kicks.

Although the pure statistics do not speak clearly against BVB—eight of their 26 goals this season came from set pieces, and only RB Leipzig conceded fewer goals from set pieces—the sporting management apparently saw room for improvement.

Clapham himself already bid an emotional farewell to Dortmund on LinkedIn . “It was 18 incredible months at a very special club,” he wrote, adding: “I learned every day from elite players and, more importantly, from elite people. And in the end, football is nothing without the fans.”

The Black and Yellows’ training camp is only scheduled for a short time. BVB will return to Germany on January 8, and the Bundesliga match at Eintracht Frankfurt is scheduled for the following day. Without a set-piece specialist—but with a clear plan to spread the responsibility across several shoulders in the future.

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