The principle of casting shows on television with singing or dancing candidates involves prompt response from a sometimes overly emotional jury. It’s no different in the football stadium. When the Borussia Mönchengladbach players won 2-1 against newly promoted Heidenheim two weeks ago, they fell exhausted to the ground and received what seemed like relieved applause from their fans. But when the Borussia footballers defeated VfL Wolfsburg 4-0 on Friday evening with goals from Tomas Cvancara (16th), Rocco Reitz (42nd), Franck Honorat (64th) and Alassane Plea (71st), they stayed Players stood proudly, threw their arms in the air in celebration and waited curiously for their audience’s reaction. And the fans sang: “Gladbach is the greatest club in the world.”
The foal fans have a certain amount of expertise and their claim may be correct. However, whether people beyond the Lower Rhine borders feel the same way is irrelevant to Gladbach’s feeling of happiness. The fact is: Borussia have won four of their last seven competitive games and lost only one. They recently won three home games in a row, got eleven points in six league games and moved into the round of 16 in the DFB Cup against Heidenheim, in which they lost on May 5th. VfL Wolfsburg will be welcoming us again in December.
This new confrontation with an opponent who was overwhelmed on Friday is fueling hopes in Borussia Park of reaching the quarter-finals. But the latest results give Gladbach hope for much more, namely that a long-awaited turnaround will be achieved this season: stopping and reversing a two-and-a-half-year decline.
After Gladbach’s sensational round of 16 participation in the Champions League in February 2021 (against Manchester City) and the departure of then coach Marco Rose (to Borussia Dortmund) announced in the same month, an emotional collapse occurred in the Gladbach squad, which was caused by the departure of the Sports director Max Eberl accelerated eleven months later in January 2022. The successive departure and arrival of relevant players in the subsequent transfer periods had little effect, nor did the engagement of new coaches every year. When Gladbach recently finished fourth from bottom with two meager points after five matchdays, a low point seemed to have been reached. And as things stand at the moment, perhaps that really was it: the low point of the two-and-a-half-year decline.
Coach Seoane sees the derby defeat as a turning point
The resigned part of a disappointed squad from the past two and a half years has long since left the club. From that squad in the depressing second half of the 2020/21 season, only Nico Elvedi and Alassane Plea were in the starting line-up on Friday evening against Wolfsburg, while Christoph Kramer and Florian Neuhaus were on the bench. It took a long time, but the personnel changes that have taken place over two years could now slowly have an effect. It’s as if Borussia’s organism is slowly recovering from a lengthy blood transfusion.
After the 4-0 win against Wolfsburg, new sports director Nils Schmadtke said: “The team is full of enthusiasm and there is a good atmosphere, even on the bench.” The new coach Gerardo Seoane sees a concrete trigger for the recently improved performances: “After the derby, after the defeat in Cologne, there was an extreme reaction in the team in terms of energy and communication, not only on the pitch, but also off the pitch ; the team is starting to take on responsibilities – and we like that.”
This is a new development in the long-suffering squad. “Bad experiences help you make progress,” says Seoane, “the experienced players push, the team now regulates certain things on the pitch themselves, they coach each other and actively intervene – they don’t just watch what happens.”
Such activism is important. The Gladbachers have begun to pull themselves out of the swamp. What this means for the future reactions of their fans is an exciting factor, because how on earth are you supposed to become anything more than “the greatest club in the world”?