Dramatic crisis in Gladbach
The strange disappearance of Max Eberl
01/27/2022, 2:08 p.m
Where is Max Eberl? In the midst of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s biggest crisis in over ten years, the club’s media one-man show has disappeared. After an illness, he appears briefly in public and disappears again. It is the symbol for the problems of the giant from the Lower Rhine.
Max Eberl went into hiding. On Sunday, the powerful man from Borussia Mönchengladbach showed up briefly at the office – presumably to support Adi Hütter. Otherwise, the media one-man show was no longer seen in the midst of the violent rumblings about players, coaches and themselves. The situation is more serious than ever before.
The five-time German champions have lost six of their last eight league games. The players’ union VdV complains about the way national player Matthias Ginter, who is willing to change, like Denis Zakaria, would only bring in money if he left by January 31st. Most recently, Borussia “really cut the ribs” for the fee for Marvin Friedrich, as sports director Eberl reported tormentedly.
In the table, 15th place is just one point away. In addition, there is the embarrassing (and costly) DFB-Pokal-Aus at the second division team Hannover 96. Before this, Eberl had raised more questions than answered: he was nervous during the press conference, very monosyllabic and even called Adi Hütter twice “Dieter”. Most recently, according to Borussia, he was “ill”.
It’s rumbling everywhere
According to a report by “Sport Bild”, the 48-year-old, who has been with the club for 23 years and has had top responsibility for 13 years, has also been a constant topic in the team. His relationship with the team manager Sedrina Schaller, who has since left the club, offered itself as a whispering topic. The situation has been clarified, but the course of events is probably not yet. There were also new sporting rumors on Thursday. According to “Bild”, Borussia is considering approaching former Bayern coach Niko Kovac (last AS Monaco) if Hütter fails. The problem: For Hütter, Mönchengladbach and Eberl leaned far out of the window, the 7.5 million euro transfer fee for Eintracht Frankfurt would have been sunk.
Adi Hütter knows the business. The Borussia Mönchengladbach coach is under pressure.
(Photo: Bernd Thissen/dpa)
This will probably become the norm, but it is still new for coaches. A Kovac, for which there are also said to be interested parties from England, is not available for nothing either: In view of the lack of income from player sales, the “Rheinische Post” even sees “Gladbach’s business model at risk”. Hütter wants to remain calm. “It is normal that there is a lot of criticism and discussion about my job,” he said. “Now we are preparing for the two important matches against our direct rivals. These are games in which we absolutely have to score points.”
In the event of bankruptcies at Arminia Bielefeld (February 5) and against FC Augsburg (February 12), Eberl will probably have to appear. Because then it is time to act. He had extended his contract early in December 2020 until 2026 – and then took a much-noticed break in Switzerland.