In his press conference before Borussia Mönchengladbach play Bayern Munich on Saturday, Daniel Farke spoke on the situation at the club both on and off the field.
Die Fohlen currently sit 10th in the Bundesliga, nine points behind Eintracht Frankfurt who currently occupy the Europa Conference League position. When asked about the club and its prospects of European football, Farke said: “We all looked at each other and said: In such a situation, we don’t need to talk about the top 6 at all, Europe is completely unrealistic. For us, it’s about being solid in the second third of the table. That’s what we said from day one.
And, if possible, we also win the games that are important for the fan souls that we all lost last year. And I think that’s where we deliver. To tell that we have a team that should actually play Champions League … Why should we perform better as a team than last year? Do you currently find the squad better positioned? Last year Embolo, Ginter, Sommer and Zakaria were still here. Is that the reason?”
Gladbach had last qualified for the Champions League in the 2019/20 season and made it to the Round of 16 before being knocked out by Manchester City.
Farke was also asked on the financial situation at the club: “When we got into talks in the summer, the club said: We’ve just come out of the relegation battle. That’s reality, not what it was three years ago. The second point was: We have an economic situation in which we can’t just reorganize the squad and take financial risks, but on the contrary even want to make transfer proceeds. Point three was that a rift ran through the club between the team and the fans. On top of that, point four, that we said we have a squad that is in a state of upheaval, that needs new, fresh energy, because the lads are slowly getting to an age where new energy needs to come in. And number five was that we want to implement a different way of football.”
The former Norwich manager expanded on the rebuild off the club: “It will take two or three transfer windows before we have the balance in the team so that we are not only strong in possession, but also bring our ideal idea of football to the pitch in terms of intensity.”
Gladbach have failed to make use of the ability to sell their most expensive assets. Last winter, Denis Zakaria left for Juventus for €10.1m as his contract had six months remaining while this summer Marcus Thuram and Ramy Bensebaini will both leave for nothing. With this lack of money coming in from selling, Gladbach have been outspent by their rivals while clubs who are smarter in their business like Freiburg and Union Berlin are also able to compete above Gladbach.
GGFN | Jack Meenan