Borussia Mönchengladbach, Fortuna, Bayer and Cologne discuss
Rhenish Bundesliga summit
:
Virkus proposes Rhenish clubs game formats for the World Cup break
Exclusive Dusseldorf Fortuna Düsseldorf has already successfully started the new second division season with two wins. For Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and 1. FC Köln, the DFB Cup is the first competitive game of the new season. There were plenty of topics for the four club representatives to talk about at the RP’s Rheinische Bundesliga summit.
In the Bundesliga, the new season is just around the corner. Next weekend, the clubs will be in the first round of the DFB Cup for the first win of the 2022/23 season. The Rhenish clubs start with great ambitions. While Borussia Mönchengladbach is returning to the typical Gladbach style of play under new coach Daniel Farke and wants to re-establish itself in the top half of the table, Bayer Leverkusen and 1. FC Köln need to build on the success of the previous season.
Second division side Fortuna Düsseldorf has already started successfully with two wins in the first two games of the second division.
Nevertheless, there are still open personnel issues and uncertainties for all teams as to how the season will go. Plenty of topics for Mönchengladbach’s sports director Roland Virkus, Fortuna Düsseldorf’s sports director Klaus Allofs, Bayer Leverkusen’s sporting director, Simon Rolfes, and the licensed player manager of 1. FC Köln, Thomas Kessler, at the Rheinische Bundesliga summit in the Rheinische Post. With RP reporters Gianni Costa and Karsten Kellermann, they discussed expectations for the new season in front of around 80 readers of the Rheinische Post.
It is a season in which there are no corona restrictions for the time being and full stadiums can be expected again. “I can’t even remember how it feels in the arena anymore. It’s sensational when so many spectators are there for the first game against Paderborn. It was an outstanding atmosphere,” said Klaus Allofs. The other three representatives are also very happy about the closer contact with the fans. “I think fans are incredibly important. With us in particular, the players live off the fans. Some of our players came to us under Corona, they can’t do it yet. In the training camp, the boys saw for the first time how powerful the fans are and what that means for our club,” said Borussia Mönchengladbach’s manager Roland Virkus. Bayer’s Simon Rolfes emphasized that the emotions that make up the players should not be underestimated. “That’s why we try to promote it intensively with public training sessions.”
At Fortuna Düsseldorf, Klaus Allofs also sees a task in creating relationships with people. “I would like to work on getting fewer people from Düsseldorf to go to Mönchengladbach to play football. That has to be our goal,” said Allofs.
In terms of sport, Borussia Mönchengladbach will also convince again in the Bundesliga. Virkus is asked what has happened on the successful path in recent years. “A lot of things went well for us, then the pandemic came and many players had expiring contracts and the starting position has changed. It might not have gone so well then. They wanted to put the dot on top again. In my view, however, dominance should not be a feature of Borussia Mönchengladbach. Quality was always there. We had a unique selling proposition. We have to get there again,” emphasizes the Gladbach sporting director.
Despite the good previous season, staying up in the league is the goal for 1. FC Köln, emphasized Kessler. “We’re staying in the Bundesliga and we can get the 40 points as quickly as possible,” said Wollen Kessler. You want to develop step by step, also with the coach. “It doesn’t really matter whether we end up fourth, fifth or sixth. We want to play a good role in the league and also in the conference league if possible,” Kessler explains FC’s goals for the season. The squad is well positioned for this. “We had talks early on about where we wanted to go in terms of play this season and looked at what we could still do within the scope of our possibilities.” Young, developable players were brought in, also to give the squad a certain framework.
“As of now, we don’t plan to bring in any more players,” says Kessler. He was also relaxed when it came to Anthony Modeste. “We spoke openly with Toni about the situation. He had a very lucrative offer in the winter but we decided it was better to keep him with us. We promised Toni that we would discuss the situation together if an offer came along. So far, no one has approached us.”
For Simon Rolfes, however, the goal at Bayer was to keep the squad together. They succeeded. Now it’s a matter of further stabilizing the game system.
But which players do Rhenish clubs look to when looking for reinforcements? “One should be versatile in order to be attractive for clubs. The pace is an important issue, the athletics must be there to bring this speed to the game,” said Allofs. Roland Virkus also emphasized the importance of versatile players for squad policy. “It’s seldom that a player can only play one position. The only question then is how good. But I believe that the top players are still in demand as specialists in their position and are then also better than the polyvalent players. Nevertheless, the polyvalents are important for a team,” explained Rolfes.
The development of the players depends above all on the coaching team. Fortuna Düsseldorf has found a coach in Daniel Thioune who fits in well with the team, emphasizes Allofs, but he will not comment on the question of an early contract extension.
Borussia Mönchengladbach starts the season with a new coach. Daniel Farke took over from Adi Hütter. “Today the player wants to be won over as a person. Daniel Farke conveyed that from the start. He is also interested in the environment of the players. If you want to convey something, then you have to get to the people. He conveyed that from the first minute,” said Virkus. That goes for the players too. “The soft skills are important in training, they may have been neglected for a while. Today that makes the difference whether you are a good or a very good player,” Virkus is certain.
“Today the players demand more. The human component to have the player with you is one thing, but also the competence to work on the different fields & be served. We came earlier and trained. Nutrition or different training methods are topics that hardly ever existed in my time,” says Rolfes.
What should not be missing at a Rhenish football summit? The question about the derby. And for the round that is clearly the game Borussia Mönchengladbach against 1. FC Köln. FC won both derbies last season. A heavy blow for Gladbach: “If we had won the two derbies but had been relegated, the overall mood might have been better than it was after the season,” Virkus said somewhat ironically. Thomas Kessler, on the other hand, was able to experience how nice derby victories are at FC: “My children wake me up in the morning with derby winner, derby winner. I can’t disappoint them now.” However, he will not spend six points against Gladbach and everything else will not matter for the season. “I was also allowed to play a derby against Gladbach that we won. That’s what you live on as a player for a long time, but it’s the biggest thing for the fans.” The rivalry should take place on the pitch, with singing in the stands, emphasizes the man from Cologne. Every player is already looking forward to the game.
“I’m curious to see if Gladbach have more to show than last year,” said Kessler.
First of all, the representatives of the Rhenish clubs are looking forward to the DFB women’s European Championship semifinals against France in addition to their own start to the season. National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is a member of the supervisory board at Fortuna Düsseldorf. Allofs is therefore particularly pleased with the success. You don’t have great contact at the moment. Thomas Kessler is particularly pleased about the attention given to the women: “That’s great. Why shouldn’t my daughters also want to play for Cologne at some point.”
Discussing the same approach among footballers, Simon Rolfes finds the wrong approach. “Salaries always have something to do with income. If they go down like in the pandemic, the salary opportunities will go down too. Women’s football is not helped if higher profits are made. The woman in question at that moment, but not football itself with its structure,” said Rolfes. The development should be initiated so that the infrastructure and the basic requirements are improved. It is important that there is attention. The Bayer women, for example, like the men, traveled to games in Mexico. “There was a lot of attention for her. The topic will become more and more important,” Rolfes is certain.
While the DFB women are playing for the European Championship, many Bundesliga players will be heading to the World Cup in winter. The long winter break will be a big challenge for the clubs. All four representatives agreed that the award to Qatar was a wrong decision. “Now we must at least use the World Cup to draw attention to the abuses. Maybe then we can still move something positive,” said Allofs. Thomas Kessler’s anticipation is also limited. “The topic is difficult,” also from the club’s point of view with the long winter break. He was curious to see whether there would be an opportunity for the players to draw attention to the grievances on site.
Rolfes WILL be asked whether the awarding of the World Cup is also an issue for the players. Currently, for many, the first issue is to be there. “For many players it is the dream to be part of a European Championship or a World Cup. That is the most important thing right now, but of course the players are also concerned with Qatar. “For us, the question is how players survive a season like this, for example with the change in climate zones. It’s unfavorable from a sporting point of view,” said Rolfes.
But how do you plan such a long winter break of eleven weeks? “Some players don’t play the World Cup, they have to stay in shape. To do this, we have to find formats that we can best market,” Virkus said about possible formats for bridging the clubs’ World Cup sides. After all, the players would have to be paid. “Especially here in the west with many clubs & we clubs make sure that we work closely together and find a concept for this time,” said Gladbach’s sporting director, looking at his colleagues on the podium.
It’s also about more than occupational therapy for the players who stay with the club, says Allofs. “We have to make the times meaningful for the players and also make financial sense for us. I don’t get enough suggestions and ideas from the DFL either,” warned Fortuna Düsseldorf’s sports director.
A Rhenish football tournament during the World Cup would certainly also please the fans who came to the Rhenish Bundesliga summit of the Rheinische Post and, above all, supported the attitude towards the World Cup with applause.
You can read the discussion at the Rheinische Bundesliga summit here.