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Club returned to the fore at the dawn of the last decade, Borussia Mönchengladbach is today one of the best clubs in Germany. Regularly qualified for the European cups, the club from the west of the country beyond the Rhine is still struggling to pass a course to become a real candidate for the title and competitor of Bayern Munich. Worse still this year, Borussia is 8th in the Bundesliga, far from the battle for the title but still in the race for Europe. But the future of the club raises questions, will it be able to quickly win a sixth German championship to expand its record?
A season to save
This season, after a start on schedule for their opponents, the five-time Bundesliga-titled club totally broke down in 2021 and found themselves close to sinking into the soft underbelly of the championship. Fortunately, the Foals eventually regained character and came back close to the candidates for Europe.
An air gap nevertheless fatal to continue fighting for the title in the company of Leipzig, Bayern, Dortmund as well as Bayer Leverkusen. But like Gladbach, the last two dropped points and are now 5th and 6th with a few steps ahead of the club in the black tunic. 4 points separate Borussia (8th) from Leverkusen (6th), against 6 points on BVB (5th). Six days from the end, the formation of Marco Rose must give everything to try to come back on its competitors and try to blur the recent disappointments as much as possible.
In parallel, the Foals were trying to exist in the Champions League in a very tough group. Falling against Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Shakthar, it is especially against the Ukrainians that they will distinguish themselves. A resounding 6-0 victory at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, followed by a 4-0 home victory against the same Shakthar Donetsk side. The last two meetings, lost against Inter at home (2-3) and in Madrid against Real (2-0) do not eliminate the Gladbach players, who finish 2nd and offer themselves the possibility of facing Manchester City in the round of 16. In crisis at that time, Marcus Thuram’s teammates could not resist Guardiola’s steamroller and ended up leaving the competition in anonymity.
Triple scorer in Kiev, the Frenchman Alassane Pléa had greatly contributed to the victory of his family – Shakthar Donetsk 0-6 Borussia Mönchengladbach (Photo credits: RTL Sport)
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Marco Rose leaves the ship, Adi Hütter gets on board
In Germany, it is common for changes of coaches to be announced very early in the season, even if the coach in question is still employed by one of his competitors. This is the situation that Mönchengladbach has just experienced when he learned during a failed season that his coach Marco Rose would join Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season. A situation which led the club’s leaders to quickly recruit a new headliner to continue the progress shown since the club’s return to the Bundesliga in 2009.
Hütter, the good idea to get back to health?
Earlier this week, Borussia Mönchengladbach officially announced the arrival of Adi Hütter at the head of the Foals from next season and for three years. News that did not surprise so much the Austrian coach of 51 years is doing a great job with the formation of Eintracht Frankfurt. With a slick game and a guaranteed show every week, Hütter currently puts the red and black team at the foot of the podium.
Former coach of the Young Boys of Bern and Red Bull Salzburg, the former professional player manages to take Eintracht to the semi-finals of the Europa League, a real feat because the Eagles have notably released Inter, Shakthar or even Benfica before falling on Chelsea on penalties in the semi-finals. In the league, it’s more difficult for the young coach. A first year in 7th place, a second season ended in 9th place. The third exercise will ultimately be the correct one. After a complicated start, Frankfurt recovered with brilliant performances and is now close to the podium.
If Hütter advocates more the beautiful game and his personal principles, he admits to being inspired by some iconic characters of football: “The way of playing of City, it is fabulous. Guardiola is a top coach. Of course, I try to copy it on certain points. But I also watch Jürgen Klopp a lot, I like what he does. Finally, there is a mix of what the others are doing. We are always learning. It would be nice to attend training sessions on site. But I want to go my way and make sure my teams play good football. “
???? Adi # Hütter will become Borussia’s coach from the 2021/22 season. The Austrian technician signed a three-year contract ✍️#The foals ???????? pic.twitter.com/r7izEdOhRX
– Gladbach (@borussia_fr) April 13, 2021
A crucial market
While Adi Hütter is capable of helping Gladbach progress, the equipment available to him is a key element in the success of Rolf Königs’ club. If Gladbach already has a good squad, a few adjustments could make the team even better and potentially strong enough to claim the title. If certain elements remain indestructible such as Lars Stindl, Florian Nehuhaus or the French Marcus Thuram, the German club will have to strengthen its spine by hoping for the arrival of a central defender, a midfielder in addition to the young Toulouse man Manu Koné who arrives next summer and a serial scorer.
To accompany Pléa at the forefront of the attack, the club could think of André Silva, second best scorer in the Bundesliga with 23 goals behind Robert Lewandowski. The Portuguese center-forward could join the new club of the coach who relaunched him. A construction site awaits Hütter who now has the future of the club in his hands.
After a disappointing season, the summer will be important for Gladbach who will have to be active on the transfer market to optimize his chances of regaining Europe and the title race and finally why not pass a course.
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