After the debacle in Mainz, sports director Roland Virkus sharply criticized the professionals of the Bundesliga soccer club Borussia Mönchengladbach. One thing in particular makes him mighty foxy. He can “understand every frustration of the fans,” he scolds. Coach Daniel Farke also clearly names the weaknesses.
Sports director Roland Virkus got really angry after Borussia Mönchengladbach lost 4-0 at FSV Mainz 05. “We make such stupid mistakes, it goes against the grain,” said the 56-year-old about Borussia’s poor performance on Friday evening.
Once up and running, Virkus followed suit. “We have to put a stop to what’s happening in away games. It’s relatively easy to score goals against us. That upsets me so much. I can understand the frustration of the fans. I’m frustrated too.”
Coach Daniel Farke also found clear words abroad after Borussia’s sixth defeat of the season. “It’s a quality that our game lacks, that we defend ourselves against falling behind and continue to make mistakes. We lack that. We have to show a different level of resilience,” he criticized. In the duel with Mainz, his team broke up after a decent first half after the break. “That can’t be and I feel sorry for our fans,” said defender Stefan Lainer. “We made too many careless mistakes.”
Six days after the acclaimed 3-2 win against record champions Bayern Munich, Borussia was hardly recognizable and disappointed across the board. “It concerns us as a team why we can’t achieve consistency,” admitted Lainer. Virkus hasn’t yet found an explanation as to why the team’s performances have fluctuated so much.
Farke at least clearly named the weaknesses of his protégés, whom he denied the unconditional will to assert themselves in difficult situations. “We weren’t willing to go into counter-pressing after losing the ball and send a signal straight away. You win such a tight game over to your side. We miss that quality over the course of the game,” criticized the 46-year-old.
He was also not satisfied with the body language and the mileage of his players, who unwound a total of nine kilometers less than the Mainz team. “These are things that I don’t like and that the club have been complaining about for a number of seasons,” said Farke. No wonder that Virkus announced when he left: “We will address the errors mercilessly.”
