As the new coach of Fortuna Düsseldorf, Alexander Ende is supposed to end the club’s slide into the 3rd league. The football teacher has five games to do this.
Even in very difficult times, humor must not be completely lost. “It wasn’t the plan to make great puns,” said Fortuna Dusseldorfs sports director Sven Mislintat half jokingly, half seriously, at the introduction of Alexander Ende on Monday morning (April 13th, 2026).
The bizarre nature of the coaching change had caused some gimmicks in recent headlines. The fact that Ende is now succeeding Markus Beginning as coach is anything but a joke.
Crash into the Third class
The new coach needs a good hand straight away. The Rhinelanders are ultimately deep in the relegation battle. After four bankruptcies in a row, there has been a real pull towards the bottom of the table. Only one point separates Fortuna from both the relegation place and the first direct relegation place. At the start of the season, the Düsseldorf team started as self-proclaimed promotion candidates.
But that was a lot of failures ago, with a dismissed sports director (Klaus Allofs) and two football teachers who were on early leave (Daniel Thioue, Markus beginning). The harsh reality of Düsseldorf means that the stumbling Fortuna must be saved from falling into the third division.
Concept didn’t work
The aim now is to sort things out in the remaining five games and stop the free fall just in time. The 46-year-old, born in Grevenbroich (around 30 kilometers from Düsseldorf), made a clear commitment “beyond the five games, regardless of the result,” said Mislintat.
And Ende was by no means signed just because he did such a good job at SC Verl in the 3rd league. These words from the coach “also apply to the worst-case scenario.”
It’s been a while since Ende’s work in Verl. The coach was most recently employed by league and relegation rivals Preußen Münster and was released early. The style with which he lets his teams play is considered courageous, intense, with a lot of ball possession and a playful touch. For a comparable one football The Fortuna team was put together by Allofs before the start of the season. But the concept never really worked.
Mislintat had decided against a so-called firefighter like Friedhelm Funkel for short-term rescue because “we didn’t want to hide behind a person and seek protection.” Ende should find a holistic approach. Providing a mixture of spontaneous assistance and medium to long-term game ideas.
Lots of injuries
“The balancing act is very appropriate. I will try to bring in my facets straight away. But we won’t give the boys a brainteaser,” said the new Fortuna coach, explaining his first steps in Düsseldorf.
Ende leads his first training session on Monday afternoon. However, there is a lot of work to be done: the team has so far conceded too many goals (45) and scored far too few goals (27).
In addition to all the deficiencies, there are also many injuries (currently 5 players), which significantly reduce the coach’s scope for personnel. Including the recent cruciate ligament tear of probably the best Fortuna player at the moment, Florent Muslija. “This squad has so much potential, despite the injuries. We will make up for it,” said Ende and was optimistic.
Next Saturday, Ende and his Fortuna have to compete against 1.FC Magdeburg (2 p.m.), which is also in serious danger of relegation.
Our sources:
- Press conference Fortuna Düsseldorf
Broadcast: WDR.de“Alexander Ende takes over as coach at Fortuna Düsseldorf”, April 13, 20261:57 p.m
