Borussia Mönchengladbach fires coach after historically poor start to the season

As defenseless as the Borussia Mönchengladbach players were during the second half of the game against SC Freiburg, the club surrendered to the dark rules of Bundesliga operations the day after the 5-0 defeat. The historically worst start to the season was initially followed by unchallenged speculation about an impending dismissal and shortly afterwards by the execution.

“Despite good preparation and positive approaches, the team did not manage to achieve the desired results in the Bundesliga,” said Mönchengladbach sports director Rouven Schröder. “The recent performances have led to the decision to relieve Eugen of his duties with immediate effect.”

Contrary to rumors to the contrary, this is not a resignation; It was the club that took early action again after parting ways with Gerardo Seoane after three match days of the previous season.

This history makes it clear that the trainer only bears part of the responsibility. For years, this club has lacked a culture of performance that can enable a team to excel in better years.

This spirit with which SC Freiburg persistently climbs one step after the next, with which FC Schalke rose and fought a 0-0 draw against Bayern Munich a week ago, with which Heidenheim reached the European Cup and VfB Stuttgart the Champions League and which was completely internalized in Munich anyway, is permanently absent from the Lower Rhine.

In the 2024/2025 season, which was perceived as progress, it was Tim Kleindienst, signed from Heidenheim, who brought in exactly this element, at least in small doses, but the striker was alone. When he suffered an injury, things went downhill.

Last year, Kleindienst was missing almost the entire time due to his bad knee, and Gladbach played a boring, average season. To this day, far too much depends on the former national player, which has obviously caused him to be overwhelmed.

After the 3-0 loss in Leipzig, he accused his team of playing “kindergarten football” before he said after the 3-4 loss against Elversberg: “We should quickly increase our focus so that it lasts 90 minutes, and I have no idea what it is, watch less Tiktok or what do I know, I actually don’t care what they do.” It is obvious that such sentences damage cohesion.

After a clarifying conversation during the week, Schröder said that Kleindienst realized “that he was over the top with some of his statements.” In Freiburg the captain was “over it” with his style of play. The completely unnecessary action against Matthias Ginter, which led to the first yellow card for the Gladbacher, seemed downright infamous.

The sending off in the second half after Philipp Lienhart kicked the back of his foot with the sole of his foot was harsh, but completely in accordance with the rules. Apparently Kleindienst wanted to move forward because others on the team didn't have the necessary energy. His desperation is understandable.

Because so far there has been no good impetus from the new arrivals in this matter, which is urgently needed. Ultimately, three players with corresponding strengths were given up: defense chief Nico Elvedi, former captain Rocco Reitz and the less noticeable but very efficient Yannick Engelhardt. Incidentally, Engelhardt is now a regular player at league leaders SC Freiburg and scored two of the five goals on Saturday.

"After successfully staying in the league, we made a lot of changes this season. We had big plans, but we didn't manage to implement them," said Polanski as he said goodbye. “Borussia Mönchengladbach was and remains my club, that’s why it hurts so much that it has come to this.”

Schröder and Polanski had still exuded a lot of confidence in the summer. The offensive talents Hugo Bolin, 23, and Wael Mohya, 17, were celebrated, and ten new players also arrived. Lots of interesting footballers, none of whom have been able to dominate the defensive midfield so far.

In the three games of the season so far, the more offensive Kevin Stöger and the 18-year-old Mathieu Nguefack were used in the double six alongside the pale Philipp Sander twice, the result: a total of twelve goals conceded. It is clear that Polanski is not least a victim of Schröder's squad planning.

“Sport1” presented an interesting statistic on Sunday: Since Marco Rose left the club five years ago, the points average has gotten a little worse under each coach (Adi Hütter, Daniel Farke, Seoane and now Polanski).

Next Saturday against Mainz 05, the team will be looked after by assistant coach Jan-Moritz Lichte before a new head coach is to be introduced during the subsequent international break. There is speculation about Ole Werner, who may be waiting for more interesting options, about Alexander Blessin (most recently St. Pauli) and Horst Steffen (previously Bremen).