On Sunday, the city and the player’s name were written in cute children’s writing on each of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s mint green special jerseys. On the occasion of Children’s Rights Day four days earlier, the Gladbachers played in creatively designed shirts, which are now being auctioned off for charity. What seemed all the more astonishing was how mature the Borussia team acted in their children’s jerseys.
Gladbach, which had previously been in gradual decline for three years and was on the brink of relegation to the second division last season, has now won four home games in a row with a 2-0 win against FC St. Pauli and has picked up eleven points from the last five league games without defeat. Within a month and a half, Borussia climbed from fifth to sixth place in the table. The “Gladbacher Weg”, which has been a rather bad running gag for years, is actually taking a bit of shape at the moment. “The team has settled in,” says a relieved sports director Roland Virkus, “we’re currently having a good run.”
:Things are creaking at VfB
VfB Stuttgart is so plagued by injuries that the team is currently only a light version of itself. The 2-0 win against Bochum illustrates what you can expect from this still interesting team under these circumstances.
The attackers Alassane Plea (13th) and Tim Kleindienst (44th) scored the goals against St. Pauli. It was the third goal of the season for the Frenchman Plea and the seventh for the Brandenburger Kleindienst. This makes the 28-year-old, along with Jonathan Burkardt from Mainz, the best German at the moment Bundesliga goalscorer behind Bayern’s Briton Harry Kane (14) and Frankfurt’s Egyptian Omar Marmoush (11).
Eight days after Kleindienst scored two goals against goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj for the German national team in Freiburg in a 7-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina, he now also scored against the 28-year-old Bosnian in his capacity as St. Pauli goalkeeper. If Kleindienst, who came from Heidenheim in the summer, continues to score for Gladbach at this frequency, then he could break Marco Reus’s 18 goals this season from 2012 or even Heiko Herrlich’s 20 goals this season from 1995. He has scored more frequently within a Bundesliga season in the past Haven’t met a Gladbacher in 30 years.
The number of goals conceded is gradually decreasing
Kleindienst, nicknamed ‘Smallservice’ in its current fabulous state for the international market, is a relevant factor in Gladbach’s current success. “Tim has immense energy,” says sports director Virkus admiringly. With his seven goals and four assists, Kleindienst was involved in eleven of Gladbach’s 17 Bundesliga goals. Virkus, however, believes that the strong presence of the 1.94 meter long battering ram with the self-proclaimed “scumbag mentality” is also productive in the midfield: “Tim gets rid of a lot of things.”
Because Borussia is also becoming more and more stable defensively. The number of goals conceded in the last five games is chronologically: 2, 1, 1, 0, 0. “We are now one of the best defenses in the league,” says Virkus happily. Only three clubs have conceded fewer goals than Gladbach. “We are a more solid team than last season,” says coach Gerardo Seoane.
What is even more astonishing is which players are currently not in the starting line-up at Gladbach: The new additions Kevin Stöger and Philipp Sander, who were brought in as leaders, were only sitting on the bench at kick-off on Sunday, as was the actual regular goalkeeper and captain Jonas Omlin, who was out of action after a long injury Lost number one position to Moritz Nicolas with number 33. Central defender Nico Elvedi, who recovered after several weeks, also only watched against St. Pauli because his back-up Marvin Friedrich has been doing so well alongside the confident Japanese Ko Itakura for five games.
“With his stature and his good eye, Marvin is using his opportunity very well at the moment,” praises Seoane, but in general he thinks the whole team is currently much more compact than last season. “Resilient and focused” she “brought home” the 2-0 lead against St. Pauli. Defending a lead feels so comfortable for Gladbach precisely because they have often failed to do so in recent years.
The games against Freiburg and Dortmund will show how sustainable the Gladbach approach is
“We might not have drawn this game last year,” says goalkeeper Nicolas. “The team’s further development is also reflected in the fact that they are now winning games like this,” believes sports director Virkus. “The second half didn’t always feel great from the outside,” admitted coach Seoane, “but all in all we see a clear improvement compared to last season.”
Gladbach were last in sixth place in the table at a similarly advanced stage of the season two years ago, but then fell sharply under coach Daniel Farke. Because the fans know their Pappenheimers, there were no overly clear shouts of “European Cup” ringing through the stadium on Sunday.
On the next two Saturdays, Borussia will have a fantastic chance to prove itself against two direct neighbors in the table. Next Saturday they will be visiting SC Freiburg, who are tied for seventh in the table, and a week later they will host Borussia Dortmund, who are two points better in the table and fifth in the table, on Saturday evening.
“We still have to improve a few things at the top,” says sports director Virkus. The goalkeeper Nicolas also warns “not to get too euphoric now”. After three poor years, the Borussians don’t really trust their luck – the Gladbacher Weg. It still has to be proven whether this is a steep climb, a moderate switchback – or even a treacherous slope.
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