It’s been five years since Borussia Mönchengladbach last finished a first half of the season near the relegation zone. Shortly before Christmas 2016, the trainer André Schubert was therefore dismissed. Sports director Max Eberl justified the measure with the sentence: “That was no longer the team we know.” Fear of relegation and a team you don’t know anymore – that was too much.
Now, five years later, the situation at Borussia-Park is the same after the 3-2 defeat against Frankfurt on Wednesday evening, no, it is worse. Because in 2016 you had a buffer of four points to Hamburger SV on the relegation place after the first half of the season. At the moment, after 16 games with FC Augsburg, you only have one point buffer on the relegation place. The FCA will play for the first half of the season at the bottom of the table in Fürth, Gladbach will play at Hoffenheim, who are fourth in the table.
Gladbachers who shoot balls out of bounds with shaky feet
Even more frightening than the tabular situation for the fans on the Lower Rhine is the fact that they no longer know this team. Almost four weeks ago in the 4-0 win against Fürth they were still known, but then followed a 1: 4 in Cologne, a 0: 6 against Freiburg, a 1: 4 in Leipzig and on Wednesday a 2: 3 against Frankfurt .
Players who uncontrollably shoot balls with shaky feet, who no longer know how to prevent goals conceded and who sometimes give the impression during a game that they might have chosen a pastry apprenticeship, a mechanic apprenticeship or a higher one A career as a civil servant has been decided on in Borussia-Park for a long time.
Borussia will still not dismiss their coach Adi Hütter. At least not before Christmas and not before the risk of relegation to the second division should become very, very specific. Because Hütter was expensive. Gladbach paid 7.5 million euros to Eintracht Frankfurt for him in the summer. Such a transfer fee makes a coach dismissal, especially in economically difficult Corona times, impossible.
Now Eberl does not want to fire Hütter anyway. Not only because of the 7.5 million euros. But because he is convinced of the Austrian’s abilities. Eberl was not so convinced of Schubert five years ago. Schubert had been used a year earlier as an emergency nail for the refugee coach Lucien Favre and did a pretty good year for a year. But when Eberl no longer recognized the team, he quickly replaced Schubert with Dieter Hecking.
Gladbach has been in a relegation battle since Wednesday evening at the latest, but you don’t feel that in Borussia-Park. The fans didn’t whistle after the final whistle, they didn’t shout “Hütter out”, on the contrary: They applauded the players as a consolation. Sports director Eberl didn’t speak angry and didn’t question the coach, and the experienced, level-headed midfielder and 2014 world champion Christoph Kramer said after the game: “Everything can happen very quickly in football – maybe we will knock again in a few weeks the European Cup places. “
Isn’t that the most dangerous of all constellations? A team is in danger of relegation and nobody notices?
It has been ten months since Gladbach made it to the Champions League round of 16 and then coach Marco Rose announced his move to Borussia Dortmund. Since then, Gladbach has scored 35 points in 30 cross-season Bundesliga games. With 35 points after 30 match days you can find yourself in dire straits in the Bundesliga. Just like Gladbach is now crouching on the edge of the abyss. “The bare numbers speak for themselves,” said Hütter on Wednesday evening. But somehow nobody feels in real danger in Borussia-Park.
Every time the language comes up on the terrifying performance of this team, one remembers the 1-0 victory in September against Borussia Dortmund and the 5-0 in the cup against Bayern in October. But that was a different team. The players had the same names and they looked the same, but they are no longer the same. You have lost confidence. At the moment you have forgotten how to play football a bit.
“Sometimes you can’t explain it,” replied midfielder Kramer when asked what caused the mental crash of this team within four games. He firmly denies that it could have anything to do with the expiring contracts of Matthias Ginter and Denis Zakaria and explains: “When you’re on the pitch, you always want to win, things like that don’t matter.”
Gladbach longs for the turnaround, but the next three opponents are all on a Champions League place in the table: TSG Hoffenheim, Bavaria (January 7th), Bayer Leverkusen (January 15th). After its most difficult year in a long time, the club is about to face groundbreaking exams in early 2022. This time it should be meant particularly seriously when the club wishes on its New Year’s cards: Happy New Year!