“He’s someone who speaks to people in the Ruhr area and he also knows the soul of Borussia Dortmund. We feel good with him now. But he still has to win games,” said the head of the Bundesliga soccer club on Sky in on Sunday halftime of the U19 final between Hertha BSC and BVB in Berlin.
Watzke asked for patience for Marco Rose’s successor: “We know one thing for sure that we are in the process of changing a lot, reconfiguring some things in the team. The minimum is the Champions League qualification. But we have to be like that Give a team the time now and again. When six or seven new players come on, it takes time.”
Watzke considers the surprising separation from Rose after just one year as BVB head coach to be logical. “It had nothing to do with patience at all, football is also a result sport at the end of the day. Marco had the time, he’s had a year. Something was missing on both sides. And that’s why we then felt that it might be a good thing when we split up,” he said. “It was very difficult for all of us, Marco is a great coach, a great person. Nevertheless, our job now is to look ahead.”
BVB youngsters again A-Junior champions after beating Hertha
BVB’s U19 footballers have successfully defended their title in the youth Bundesliga. The team around Bundesliga-experienced Tom Rothe and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens won the final against Hertha BSC’s U19s on Sunday after falling 2-1 (1-1). For BVB it was the ninth title in this age group, while the Berliners missed their second triumph after 2018. Most recently, no champions had been crowned due to the corona pandemic, Dortmund had won the last final so far in 2019 against VfB Stuttgart.
Hertha took the lead on Sunday in front of BVB managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke and new sporting director Sebastian Kehl through striker Luca Wollschlger (12th minute). Bynoe-Gittens (37′) and Bradley Fink (49′) turned the game around for the guests. The club leaders from Berlin could not follow the game because of the simultaneous general meeting in the stadium.
“The boys played a great year,” said Lars Ricken, the director of the Dortmund youth training center on the Sky TV channel. “I can’t be prouder of the boys,” said Ricken, who praised the reaction after losing the cup final against VfB Stuttgart a week ago: “That makes the win so emotional.”
Bobic confirms goalkeeper Lotka’s transfer to Borussia Dortmund
Managing Director Fredi Bobic has confirmed the transfer of goalkeeper Marcel Lotka from Hertha BSC to Borussia Dortmund. The 21-year-old goalkeeper signed with the runners-up in March and is set to play in the reserve team in the third division next season. It was only after signing in Dortmund that Lotka made the surprising career leap from number five to goalkeeper in the relegation battle with the Berliners.
“He couldn’t be held back and wanted it that way,” said Bobic on Sunday at the general meeting of the Berlin Bundesliga club. Hertha had initially hoped that Lotka would stay.
After a specific question from a member, Bobic did not reveal whether Hertha would hire another sports director after Arne Friedrich left. He does not plan to do all the work alone, but there are currently no concrete plans for the personnel, emphasized Bobic.
BERLIN (dpa-AFX)
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