The end of an era: There are increasing signs that Max Eberl is leaving Borussia Mönchengladbach after 23 years. The foals would be in the middle of their crisis and in the relegation battle without leadership.
It’s nothing less than a football tremor, a real Bundesliga hit: According to several media reports, Max Eberl will leave his heart club Borussia Mönchengladbach after 23 years, his “baby”, which he first went through difficult times and then back to the top of the league has brought.
According to “Bild” and “Sky”, Eberl is said to have asked President Rolf Königs to terminate the contract on January 31st. On Thursday evening, he drummed up part of the team to talk to them and communicate his decision. According to information from “SID”, all this happened without much warning. Nothing really indicated that the guarantor of success of the past decade wants to leave the shaking ship. According to “Sport1”, the reason could be that Eberl no longer has the feeling that he can develop the team further.
In the middle of the crisis, the foals are left without leadership. In Gladbach, the fear of a possible relegation is greater than ever. Only one win in the last eight Bundesliga games (2-1 against Bayern), the associated fall in twelfth place – and only four points before a relegation zone. In addition, the ever louder criticism of coach Adi Hütter. Most recently, ex-Bayern coach Niko Kovac was brought up as a successor. And then there are the contract disputes about Denis Zakaria and Matthias Ginter, both of whom will leave the club free of charge in the summer.
Busy and monosyllabic
There is no official confirmation from the Gladbachers yet. However: Already at the press conference before the cup game at Hannover 96, the sports director had seemed unusually nervous, answered in monosyllables and even called coach Hütter “Dieter” twice. In Hanover, just like in the home game against Union Berlin, he was no longer on the bench, according to Borussia “ill”.
Max Eberl is with the Swiss Sedrina Schaller. (Source: Photo booth/imago images)
Private life is said to have played a role in the farewell. Eberl is in a relationship with the Swiss Sedrina Schaller, whom he brought to the club in May as an “assistant team manager”. Both had made the relationship, which is said to have been viewed critically within the club, public in October. At the turn of the year, Schaller left the club, according to Borussia at his own request.
Time out in Switzerland
Eberl had extended his contract early in December 2020 until 2026 and then took a four-week break in Switzerland. He wanted to calm down and “do something for me.” At the beginning of February he returned to Borussia. “When I was packing my suitcase on the evening of January 1st, I had a point where I had a strange feeling, because I had never done anything like this alone in my life. In hindsight, it was the best decision,” explained Max Eberl later in an interview with “Sport Bild”.
And now? Eberl’s services to the club are undisputed. Since the relegation in 2011, Borussia has always landed in the single digits for ten years in a row – otherwise only Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have managed that. During this time, the traditional club has reached the Champions League three times and the Europa League three times.
Eberl is a Gladbach veteran
Eberl came to the foals as a professional at the beginning of 1999. From 2004 he worked as a youth coordinator, in 2008 he was promoted to sports director. With talent, but also first-class transfers, Eberl rebuilt Borussia. His masterpiece is still the purchase of Marco Reus from the then second division club Rot Weiss Ahlen. Other top purchases were Dante, Granit Xhaka, Christoph Kramer and Max Kruse.
No wonder that Bayern Munich, Eberl’s sporting home, knocked on the door in 2017. But the native of Lower Bavaria stayed on the Lower Rhine, where he was responsible for the external presentation almost as a one-man show, which also cost energy. “At some point,” Eberl kept saying, “I’d like to win a title with Borussia Mönchengladbach,” something “tinny.” This goal now remains unfulfilled.