The clear home bankruptcy against Darmstadt was a real blow to the Kontor Fortuna Düsseldorf. What’s next at Fortuna now?
On Sunday afternoon, something happened in the Düsseldorf stadium that had not existed for a few years: the fans left the stories before the game was closed. In the game against Darmstadt 98, ten minutes of stoppage time were to be completed, when the ranks in the Düsseldorf arena were emptied at the score of 0: 3 in a striking way.
After the 0: 2 against Hanover and the 0-0 against Karlsruher SC, it was the third game of the Fortuna without her own audience in a row. “I have to apologize to the audience that had to endure a lot here. A home team that does not score a goal during this time – something like this should not happen. We are still well served with the individual whistles that we rightly get off. I am at most disappointed,” moaned Fortuna coach Daniel Thiune after the game.
“No answer found”
Fortuna’s appearance against Darmstadt, trained by Florian Kohfeldt, almost came up with a bankruptcy declaration – you have to express it as drastically. Little happened at the front, but the team was extremely faulty. Sports director Klaus Allofs also found. “Anyone who knows Darmstadt’s game should have known what to expect,” he said, adding their mouth to: “We still did not find an answer to Darmstadt’s style of play. Overall, you have to say that there was no further development in our game.”
If a sports theater says something like this, a trainer naturally has to ring out loud in the ears – the criticism certainly went primarily to his address. Thioune also accepted Allofs’ words: “We have repeatedly not managed to be so energetically on the pitch in order to be able to pull the game on our side. We did not find the processes offensive to hurt your opponent. And if you don’t take offensive, you have to see that at least you keep yourself – we also did not succeed.”
Keller instead of the top of the table
Actually, after the strong last season, Fortuna wanted to seriously intervene in the fight for the promotion places. After six match days, however, things look very different. So far, the Thioune team has collected seven points. That means 13th place in the table. The distance to the relegation zone is much lower than that to the top.
Fortuna coach Daniel Thioune during the game against Darmstadt 98
And suddenly she is there – the discussion about the coach. “The coach is challenged,” says Allofs, and: “Of course we cannot take the coach out of responsibility. He is responsible for improving.” This is a clear count, certainly. But also a kind of advance for Thioune, at least for the coming game at VfL Bochum. Fortuna will compete in the Ruhr Stadium next Saturday (September 27, 2025) – it is a crisis duel. VfL even has only three points in the account, ranked 17th.
Now she’s there: the Trainer discussion
Allofs also emphasizes that there is still no “final” for the coach, but one likes to speak of “mechanisms” in the professional business, according to which the coach is usually the weakest link in a crisis chain. Even before the Darmstadt game, Thioune had admitted that he would agree with the results, but not with the performance of his boys.
“We have not yet arrived in the finding process where we would like it. The balance and balance has been reduced to a few moments in the past few weeks,” he said.
“Welcome to professional football”
His goalkeeper Florian Kastenmaier, who also exploded before the Darmstadt game in training and shot a ball with rage roar from the stadium, he got his rage outbreak: “Welcome to professional football – you will find that at any club. It is completely normal in this situation.”
The goalkeeper now made it clear after the Darmstadt bankruptcy: “We had a lot of topics during the week, but have now not been able to get anything from what we have planned.” For Kastenmaier it is clear: “At some point there are no excuses anymore. If some of us simply do not do what they should, it will be difficult against every opponent. It is now time for a real pronunciation.”
Our sources:
- Sports information service SID
- WDR auditor in the stadium
- Website Fortuna Düsseldorf
