Losing can also be a great art. Especially this weekend there is a great opportunity for FC Bayern fans in particular to practice a bit of frustration tolerance. So far they’ve had a really hard time with that. If you are abducted to the Allianz Arena once a year as a Sechzger fan, the first thing that strikes you is how bad the atmosphere is in this slightly reddish marketing facility. If FC Bayern does not lead 3-0 at the break, boredom and displeasure will arise in the stands. When Leipzig recently took a 2-1 lead in a not entirely unimportant game, the so-called fans fled by the thousands.
That reminds me of my time as coach of an F and E youth team in the south of Munich. One of the most important tasks was to ignore the tips and comments of the players’ parents (“Are we born to lose here?”). Over time, however, the team grew to the dismay of the Oberland. Okay, now that’s a gross exaggeration. But for the neighboring village A. it was enough. When the boys were ahead by a few goals in a game before the break, it wasn’t the audience who turned their backs on the football pitch. A.’s keeper was fed up and literally ran away across the field in goalie gear. When I asked worriedly whether the deserter shouldn’t be caught, A.’s colleague from the trainer replied that it happens to him from time to time, he’s just very sensitive, besides, you don’t have to worry because the farm is up there on the Hill was the sad goalkeeper’s parental home.
As a Sixteen fan, one can add that never before has a goalkeeper for the Blues simply left the stadium during the game to pour a frustrated glass into himself at the Blue Adria on the other side of the street. Yet they often had reason to do so. You don’t want to know what would have happened in the Grünwalder Stadion if the sixties had been second in the Bundesliga and played against Leipzig. The screaming could have been heard as far away as Augsburg. But unfortunately: everything conjunctive.
So I will be back in the Grünwalder Stadium next season. Running away is out of the question.