Bundesliga: Borussia Mönchengladbach starts the weeks of truth

KA WDR radio reporter recently sounded out the sensitivities among Borussia Mönchengladbach supporters at the stadium. One of the fans said in a brave voice: “I was relegated twice with Gladbach and would be relegated a third time too.” Expectations have already sunk so low.

Borussia had to say goodbye to the Bundesliga twice in its history. Current dignitaries were involved in each case. In 1999, today’s Borussia President Rainer Bonhof was the coach, and in 2007, today’s coach Eugen Polanski was one of the players. However, such references do not serve as an advantage in terms of experience.

Another decline would hardly cost President Bonhof, 73, his office. Things could look different for coach Polanski, 39. Possibly even soon. Installed in September as the successor to the Swiss Gerardo Seoane, who had had a bad start to the season, Polanski was never able to bring consistency to the team. Gladbach only won two of their last twelve games. This gives the home game on Friday evening against third-bottom FC St. Pauli, who are one point worse, a high degree of relevance. “The importance of the game is certainly even greater for some people,” said Polanski on Thursday. “But I try to deal with it normally.” Polanski sees his team “well armed”.

The new sports director Rouven Schröder has not said a critical word about the coach since he took office in October. “There is no coaching issue for us,” emphasized Schröder. “We are fundamentally convinced of Eugen, we are happy with him, we see how he works and how he prepares the boys.” And yet Gladbach’s Polanski project recently seemed to be gradually coming into danger. They would really like to establish a coach with Borussia DNA in the long term. Polanski, who grew up in neighboring Viersen, played for Gladbach for 14 years, was a youth coach for three years and coach of the second team for three years before he was given the opportunity to become a Bundesliga coach. But the conditions are difficult.

Gladbach’s latest hope is the homegrown Wael Mohya

The leading player and goalscorer Tim Kleindienst has been out the entire season due to knee problems. Without him, the team has no consistency in its offensive performance. The last time a Gladbach team scored fewer than the current 28 goals after 25 match days was in the 2006/07 season, when they were last relegated. Another disruptive factor is that, according to media reports, fan favorite Rocco Reitz is said to have reached an agreement with RB Leipzig about a move in the summer. “It is very unlikely that Rocco will still be with us next year,” said Schröder.

This Friday’s game is the start of the weeks of truth for Borussia. Of their next six opponents, five are in the bottom places in the table: St. Pauli in 16th place, Cologne in 14th place, Heidenheim in 18th place, Mainz in 15th place and Wolfsburg in 17th place. Gladbach play three of these five games at Borussia Park, but that is the next problem: with only three wins in twelve home games, Gladbach is one of the weakest home teams in the league. The stadium wasn’t even sold out for the last six home games. There are signs of a certain disillusionment in Mönchengladbach.

This has not yet been identified in the team. Gladbach is actually in a good position in ninth place in the league in terms of duels won. But there is the most acute problem: Reitz, with a top speed of 35.63 km/h the twelfth fastest player in the league and the best Gladbacher in won duels in 13th place, is suspended for the game against St. Pauli after a red card in the game at FC Bayern.

Gladbach’s latest hope as an identity-creating Reitz successor is the homegrown Wael Mohya. Since his debut in December at the age of 16, the now 17-year-old attacker has been Gladbach’s youngest Bundesliga player ever and since his goal in the 4-1 defeat in Munich last Friday he has also become the youngest Bundesliga goalscorer in the club’s history. The German-Moroccan is again a candidate for the starting eleven against St. Pauli. And he is completely unaffected: When Borussia Mönchengladbach was relegated from the Bundesliga in 1999 and 2007, Wael Mohya wasn’t even born yet.