It was striking how much Marc-Nicolai Pfeifer had to celebrate after the game. He hugged everyone who crossed his path, Vice Presidents Hans Sitzberger and Heinz Schmidt, for example. The managing director of TSV 1860 Munich looked very shirtless after the 1-0 (1-0) against SC Verl; he had taken off his jacket.
On the one hand, there was of course the obvious joy at the victory. After four defeats in a row, the second win in a row followed. The success against Verl wasn’t particularly nice, and no sixty player managed to score a goal either (Verl’s Torge Paetow ultimately pushed the ball over the line). But none of that mattered and was lost in the cheers and the very Oktoberfest-like stadium music.
But there was probably another reason for Pfeifer to be so happy, out of a certain sense of relief: the fans had openly criticized Pfeifer during the game, quite obviously for his announcement the day before that he would take legal action against the critical article on a fan blog. “Sixty is tradition, you never understood that, do your work, otherwise people will be booed,” read a banner in the west curve during the first half.
Ultimately, the dispute with sechzger.de is about the question of whether some officials put together the squad using unprofessional means – on Friday Pfeifer and coach Maurizio Jacobacci once again vigorously defended themselves against this. Behind this, in turn, is the question of whether 1860 needs an experienced sports director so that such accusations cannot arise at all – the position of sports director has been vacant for months. If the team put together by the current officials works halfway in such a situation, that is a satisfaction.
“We gave each other a heads up, I think it worked for one or the other,” says Tim Riederer
On Saturday afternoon, even after the first minutes of the game, it didn’t look as if Sixty would finally be able to bring sporting topics to the fore again. For a long time, the team didn’t pose much of a goal threat and seemed shy. The first chances belonged to the guests from Verl, who arrived with the most goals and the most goals conceded in the league (13:16). As the game progressed, however, there were a few actors who were able to delight the audience a little. Attacker Joel Zwarts didn’t have any compelling chances, but showed a lot of overview and good solo runs; his possession of the ball in the 40th minute ultimately made it 1-0.
And then there was 23-year-old Kilian Ludewig, who was in the starting line-up for the first time. “Really only this morning,” said the loanee from RB Salzburg when asked when he knew he would be there. Ludewig and Albion Vrenezi were only there because Morris Schröter and Julian Guttau were unavailable at short notice. “I’m overjoyed to get playing time after such a long time,” said Ludewig later, who received praise from all sides. He would certainly have been even happier if he had missed one of his three chances: “I hit things in training, but unfortunately not today, we still have to work on it.” Which, if it already works in training anyway, can logically only work with further operational time.
Captain Jesper Verlaat was happy about the “Ackerer” on the right, and perhaps the appearances of Fabian Greilinger on the left and Ludewig on the right had successfully contributed to what is now the top priority at Sixty: finding your way into the game through the fight Playfulness comes later. Tim Rieder spoke about the mood after the four defeats: “We cleaned each other up, I think it worked for one or the other.” Verlaat noted: “A negative series can bring people together. We used that to our advantage.” But he also honestly noted: “Not everything was good today either.” He thought that at times they defended poorly in front of their own penalty area.
A clear message: “50+1 non-negotiable” can be read in the fan curve
The fans then celebrated for a long time with the players. As they were just saying goodbye to the curve, it quickly became clear that the at least temporary jump to a single-digit place in the table could not completely gloss over the controversial issues: “50+1 non-negotiable” was there to read again. During the week it became known that a measure planned by the DFL to consolidate the 50+1 model (to restrict external investors) had been delayed by Sixty investor Hasan Ismaik with the help of a bias application.
A large proportion of the fans are against his influence, and so this time the polarizing “Sheikh Song” could be heard again from the curve. On Tuesday Sixty plays in Ulm, next Saturday Dynamo Dresden comes to Munich. If the team continues to be successful, the officials could continue to try to ignore the internal problems.