The symbiosis between fans and players of 1. FC Union Berlin is considered indissoluble, which made the images that went through the republic on Saturday all the more surprising. After the end of the game, representatives of the so-called active Köpenick fan scene gained access to the interior of the Weserstadion and expressed their opinion to the assembled team in an almost unprecedented way.
The reason for this was the 4-1 loss at Werder Bremen; it was the ninth game without a win in a row and was also a disappointment in an overarching sense. You have to let it sink in first, said sports director Horst Heldt. “What should I tell you now, shortly after the game? We scored four goals today, we have a tendency that is not good and unsatisfactory and we are now close to Christmas. “We have to gather ourselves now,” he added.
This made people sit up and take notice because the comments were made when Heldt was asked about coach Bo Svensson, 45. The Dane has been in charge since the beginning of the season, but the hope that arose when he scored 14 points from the first seven games – namely that Union would get through the season relatively worry-free after the fearsome preseason – is gone. After 15 match days, Union is in twelfth place in the table with 17 points. The direct relegation places are nine points away. But that is at best “the foundation for staying in the league,” to use the words of midfielder Rani Khedira. But he also knows that the trend in results is pointing in the same direction as the footballing quality of Union’s presentations: downwards.
“The coach is still reaching us,” says striker Benedict Hollerbach – but he is also the biggest beneficiary in coach Svensson’s system
Svensson emphasized in Bremen that not only his relationship with the team, but also with the sporting leadership was “very good”. However, in Köpenick you not only hear the nightingales parading, but also the question of whether Svensson, who is increasingly preoccupied with himself in his external image, is actually the right man at the right time in the right place (and above all: whether he sees himself as that feels like the right man in the right place). The lack of success can also be attributed to a rather dogmatic game idea, to a lack of promising offensive processes – as well as to the fact that Svensson pays little attention to a number of players, especially the newcomers. “The coach is still reaching us,” said Benedict Hollerbach in Bremen. With only three goals, he is the most dangerous striker in a Berlin team that is only surpassed by St. Pauli and Bochum in terms of goal threat. But Hollerbach is also the biggest beneficiary of the Svensson era so far.
It is not certain that this time will come to an end now that the Christmas masses are being sung. But the feeling that things cannot continue like this is becoming increasingly clear in Köpenick. The Danish coach is protected by the fact that Union has gone to the brink of self-denial in the past when they were convinced that the coach was the right one. Urs Fischer, revered as a myth, more or less had to pull the ripcord himself in November 2023. This is currently accompanied by the question of a compelling alternative – and the lack of time. Because the remaining first half of the season – in Heidenheim and against FC Augsburg – are scheduled for mid-January.
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