Dortmund (dpa) – Various setbacks, a lot of criticism – the change of club last summer has caused some problems for Marco Rose and Adi Hütter.
The former Gladbach coach Rose has been fighting in Dortmund for weeks in vain against blatant defense problems. His successor, who moved from Frankfurt to the Lower Rhine, is currently looking for a way out of the Bundesliga danger zone with his actually higher traded team. This creates additional explosiveness in the 100th league game between the two traditional clubs from Dortmund and Mönchengladbach on Sunday (5:30 p.m. / DAZN).
BVB again with desolate defensive performance
The starting position for BVB coach Rose is particularly tricky just three days after the embarrassing and whistled 2: 4 in the Europa League against Glasgow Rangers. As with the clear 0:4 in the Champions League in Amsterdam or the 2:5 in the last home game against Bayer Leverkusen, BVB again showed a desolate defensive performance. Media reports of late-night crisis talks, fueling speculation about Rose’s dwindling standing, were immediately denied. “That didn’t exist,” Rose confirmed to the dpa on Saturday.
In addition, Michael Zorc’s first reaction sounded like a job guarantee for Rose – even in the event of another defeat against Gladbach. “That’s the normal reflex in the industry, but we don’t go along with this discussion,” said the sports director at Sport1. “The coach has our full backing. We don’t have to ask the coaching question here.”
Zorc sees “the BVB team have a duty”
Rather, Zorc sees “the team’s duty” for the games at home against the other Borussia and on Thursday (9 p.m. / RTL) in Glasgow. Despite all the annoyance about the early knockout in the Champions League and in the DFB Cup, the Dortmund executive floor appreciates that Rose is doing passably, at least in the Bundesliga. With 46 points, BVB is ten points better than at the same time last season.
“Tomorrow we will send a team onto the field that I assume will perform differently. We know that we have a home game and we really want to win it,” said Rose before the duel with his ex-club. Top scorer Erling Haaland is still not there. In addition, Manuel Akanji will be out for around three weeks due to a torn muscle fiber in his calf.
After the bankruptcy against the Rangers, Rose had announced a more consistent approach to his professionals. “I stab into the wasp’s nest, I was uncomfortable and will remain uncomfortable,” said the 45-year-old.
Hütter wants to score points with Gladbach at BVB
Rose’s counterpart from Mönchengladbach is hoping for another liberation in the relegation battle. “We’re going to Dortmund to score points there,” said Austria’s Hütter. The 3-2 win against Augsburg, which stopped the downward trend a week ago, gave us confidence.
After only one win from nine games and the descent into the lower section of the table, it was also important for Hütter that the team get some air in this situation. Four points from the last two games and, in particular, committed performances by the team have ensured that Hütter is more stable in the saddle again.
Hütter also got support from national player Florian Neuhaus, who was not always called up in the first half of the season and complained in November about the lack of support in the club. In a conversation with Hütter and the then sports director Max Eberl, the problems were cleared up, Neuhaus explained to “Bild” before the duel between the Borussia teams. “We have a very professional and good player-coach relationship. The coach told me a few things that I should improve. I agreed to that and feel very comfortable with it today,” said Neuhaus.
Similar to the first leg last September, when Gladbach beat BVB 1-0, the guests want to put emphasis on the defensive on Sunday. “We’re still conceding too many goals,” said Hütter, referring to the 40 goals his team have conceded over the past 22 matchdays.