Michael Frontzeck steps up to take Hans Meyer’ duties
By: otto |
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His work complete, Hans Meyer once again exhibited great care for Borussia as he stepped down at the end of the season. Citing the need for the club to have a younger coach, the now-legendary legendary stepped aside for what he believed to be the best interest of Borussia. There is only one word needed to describe such a move; leader.
Now in the wake of this move die Fohlen have acted fast and appointed Michael Frontzeck as coach. For Borussia, it hopefully leads towards a long-term solution of coaching as the forty-five year old former player of over 250 appearances for the club, deeply recognizes its traditions.
Taken in lump sum the work of Hans Meyer can not or will not be forgotten. Through his genius and simple command of “courage”, Borussia did what others felt impossible. Now, after his noble stepping down, the next generation of leadership can take the club forward and none better Borussia-man Michael Frontzeck.
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Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach News
never doubt Borussia
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Just before Hans Meyer was appointed to many the thought of Borussia Mönchengladbach avoiding relegation was a foolish vision of a club entranced with its past. While the history of Borussia can and should never be forgotten, the mountain to climb was great. That cannot be debated but flash forwarding to the final match-day of the season and the task is now complete as die Fohlen played Dortmund to the 1-1 draw, securing the spot in next years Bundesliga. Behind the voices of Borussia-Park, Hans Meyer’s man defended with grit, determination and the intangible that is forgotten far too much; heart.
After a scoreless opening half in which Dortmund had the majority of scoring chances, Borussia took the lead three minutes shy of the hour Alexander Baumjohann’s corner from the right was headed-in by Dante as he surged into the box. Borussia had the one goal lead and with the Park singing out, it was now a thirty minute match for survival. However Dortmund did not wilt from the pressure and leveled the match seven minutes later as Sebastian Kehl sent Jakub Błaszczykowski a long pass just outside the are, with the speedy Polish international surging in and driving the ball past Bailly from eleven metres.
Twenty minutes to go, Hans Meyer calls to the veteran Oliver Neuville to steady the forces and along with Tomáš Galásek, they held Dortmund off. As the match ticked down, the dream became a reality. Borussia-Park rang out in unison as Hans Meyer and the many great hero’s too their final bow. A remarkable comeback by a remarkable coach led by the strength of veterans and younger players alike with of-course the finest supporters in sport behind them all the way.
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach NewsBorussia lucky in defeat
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Borussia was lucky in defeat Leverkusen as despite losing 5-0, they actually improving the goal differential heading into the final weekend of the Bundesliga season as Dortmund defeated Bielefeld 6-0. While naturally winning points is preferable, in this case, good fortune was definitely in favour of the VfL.
The only absence to Hans Meyer’s lineup was the loss of Paul Stalteri and for the first thirty minutes Borussia was showing the attacking initiative along with defending patience. However Borussia’s thin squad showed fatigue in its third match in six days and began to be picked apart by Leverkusen with its attacking runs on the flank. The first goal came at the thirty-first minute and typified Leverkusen’s successful run as Stefan Kießling charged into the box and with sufficient space picked out the far bottom corner. the area and without a challenge from Roel Brouwers we sent the ball in off the far post. Using the same template Leverkusen added their second a minute prior to the break as Gonzalo Castro sent a low cross from the right flank into six-yard box that Patrick Helmes re-directed in. Looking to get back into the match, Hans Meyer brought in Sebastian Schachten and Marco Marin at the break but Leverkusen continued on, first with Gonzalo Castro hitting from the right side eight minutes after the restart with Michal Kadlec and own-goal by Dante to round out the scoring.
It is a difficult test to find something positive of the match but the size of the Dortmund victory was an huge gift. Borussia now heads into the final weekend three points above Arminia Bielefeld and Energie Cottbus but with a significant lead in goal differential. With the final week ahead Borussia faces Dortmund, in need of a point to guarantee the great escape.
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach NewsBorussia closes in on safety with victory over Cottbus
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On Wedesday Borussia won its second match in a row, defeating Energie Cottbus 1-0 with a late goal by Dante’s. Borussia rank tenth in the Rückrunde are three points above the drop with only two weeks remaining in the Bundesliga season.
For much of the match the general tone was near flawless discipline on both ends with neither side able to break through in the opening half. After the break Borussia started to assert itself with Karim Matmour coming with a fraction of scoring before his attempt was cleared. Gradually the pace started to wear on Borussia and Bojan Prašnikar urged his side to push forward for the three points. With ten minutes remaining Dušan Vasiljević entered for Cottbus and Borussia was on unsteady ground as the hosts were relentless, pushing Logan Bailly into another extraordinary performance. However as regulation time came to a end, Borussia was able to push forward, winning a corner. Stepping up to the ball Mark Marin’s cross was headed by Dante off the crossbar and in for the 1-0 victory.
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach Newsthe fight continues as Borussia will not quit
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With three remaining matches Hans Meyer’s Borussia continues to fight its way out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over Schalke. The victory eases Borussia out of the relegation zone, albeit on goal differential, in a three-way tie with Arminia Bielefeld and Energie Cottbus.
Concerned with the visiting sides recent return to attacking form, Tomáš Galásek and Dante led a defending approach that gave little ground in the final third. Despite Schalke’s endless wave of attacks, Borussia’s defending was resolute in proper clearing and closing down lines and should that fail, a hero would emerge to save the victory. After early chances by Kevin Kurányi, Halil Altintop and Vicente Sánchez, each dealt with perfectly by Logan Bailly, Borussia locked further opportunities out through a determined united front. With much of the match played box to box, Borussia missed a chance to take the lead mid of the opening half when Marco Marin failed to convert from the spot following a penalty being awarded from Heiko Westermann’s infraction on Alexander Baumjohann in the area. Yet just after the hour Oliver Neuville leapt into action and if there was any doubt of the veterans significance status, as time wound down his created the winning strike via a fast-paced counter started by Tomáš Galásek sixty metre pass before crossing from the right to Roberto Colautti to finish near the spot.
The fight is on, three matches to play and Borussia will not be deterred. The comeback through the Rückrunde under Herr Meyer has been dramatic as die Fohlen have reversed defensive problems and playing as a mid-table team on the rise. With 54,000 “man of the match” in song, Borussia will not quit till the last minute is played and the last blade of grass is fought for.
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach Newsthe fight is on!
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Borussia Mönchengladbach fight for safety heads to the final four weeks of the Bundesliga calendar after losing 2-1 to Bayern München.
Leading up the match Borussia was likely relishing the opportunity to face the Jürgen Klinsmann-”led” Bayern. However that changed and for Borussia possibly the most difficult of all opposition coaches was hired as a real coach, Jupp Heynckes took charge of the stumbling club. With the longtime Borussia man captaining the ship, the tough challenge took an even darker tone for Hans Meyer’s forces.
Tactically Borussia sat Marko Marin for Tobias Levels with a more defensive approach and utilized Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker for the suspended Alex Baumjohann. Despite a number of openings early the match was without a score until twelve minutes before the break Bastian Schweinsteiger sends in Luca Toni’s cross. The lead did not last long as only five minutes later Michael Bradley’s free-kick rebounded off Bayern goalkeeper Jorg Butt and in the rush for the loose ball Roel Brouwers was upended and a penalty awarded. Filip Daems, now assigned the penalty taking duties brought the match level but only four minute later Bayern scored what turned out to be the winning goal. Lukas Podolski’s perfect long pass to Hamit Altintop set him free in on Logan Bailly, resulting in a quick-fire score. In the final thirty minutes Roberto Colautti, Marco Marin and Oliver Neuville came on as Borussia looked for the leveling goal and despite giving up no ground, they could not find a way through. With Bayern sitting back defending the match ended with a 2-1 loss.
A lot of positives can be said of the performance but unfortunately at this time of the year, needing points, it is difficult to be satisfied despite a good display. Borussia now faces Schalke, Cottbus, Leverkusen and Dortmund in their remaining four weeks to avoid relegation.
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach Newsdifficult loss in Frankfurt
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Die Fohlen relegation charge stumbled Saturday in Frankfurt as they fell 4-1. While the score was deceiving as for much of the match Borussia showed superb attacking intent and a visit of Frankfurt should never be considered as “guaranteed” points, the result is a difficult stumble in the fight to avoid relegation.
After early efforts by Borussia could not be finished, Frankfurt opened the scoring with a telling error. From poor defending of set-pieces, Alexander Meier rose high to head in Markus Steinhöfer’s corner. Continuing along the theme of poor defending, two minutes into the new half, a poor clearance was headed back into the box and after pushed off to Nikos Liberopoulos who then beat Logan Bailly from just fourteen metres. Borussia looked to have a lifeline at the sixty-fifth minute after a penalty was called on Eintract’s Chris for bringing down Marko Marin. Michael Bradley stepped up to the spot but his attempt was stopped. Borussia continued to fight and ten minutes later in a near replay, Marin was again fouled, this time by Marco Russ and the spot pointed to. Filip Daems, who grew up close to Mönchengladbach, was given the responsibility and the veteran made no mistake as he made it 2-1. With fifteen minutes left, finding a point seemed possible but that ended at the eightieth minute on another defending error as Marco Russ escaped his mark to head in Michael Fink’s corner. In the final stages of the match Fink added the fourth goal in the disappointing day.
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach NewsProud performance of Borussia ends with loss
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Heading into Saturday’s visit of Wolfsburg visit of Borussia-Park, the task for die Fohlen was a great one. Since the start of the Rückrunde, Wolfsburg has been on a mission, plundering team after team and leaving nothing in their wake. In the prior nine matches they had filled opposition nets twenty-three times while discovering a defending stance that allowed only eight strikes against. In the relegation fight, points at home are near mandate but against a side that made of Bayern München the week before defeating 5-1, few could have counted on a positive result.
While many expected Borussia to sit on their heels from start to finish, it was clear that Hans Meyer had something else in mind. Borussia put down the defending walls and decided to go toe-to-toe with the Bundesliga’s best. To some the eventual 2-1 loss was an unlucky outcome but the fact of the matter was that it was a proud effort and possibly the best of the year. Borussia played with bold confidence and while their is no escaping the Hinrude, Hans Meyer has the club playing at an entirely different level.
The match started with Borussia making its visitors aware they are no bottom table side and will do what Bayern the week before couldn’t and for the matter, what the rest of the league has rarely shown in the second-half of the year. Attacking with a killer instinct Marco Marin set the wheel in motion with both Alexander Baumjohann and Karim Matmour unable to finish top quality scoring chances. Marking of Wolfsburg much talked-of Bosnian goal scorers Edin Džeko and Zvjezdan Misimović was near perfect as their opportunities were cut with a razors swipe. Of one of the few errors, at the twentieth minute Misimović’s cross into the box was headed-in by Džeko to give Wolfsburg the 1-0 lead. Instead of backing down, as voices rang out through the Park, Borussia attacking. Breathing fire, Wolfsburg looked like they were under siege at times and should have leveled when Michael Bradley was played in with Roberto Colautti to his left. As Wolfsburg ‘keeper Diego Benaglio came out to close the angle, he must have lost track of the Israeli international as he could have easily sent the ball to him for an easy goal but instead saw his attempt denied. The final eleven minutes was a turbulent ride of jubilation and sorrow as at the seventy-ninth minute Marco Marin’s perfect free-kick into the box was headed-in by ex-Standard de Liège man Dante to final square the match. Attacking on either end continued and the lead was lost in an unfortunate series of events with five minutes left. As Wolfsburg striker Džeko was readying to shoot from just outside the box, Paul Stalteri and Sascha Riether were surging forward five or so metres in front of him. His shot appeared to strike Stalteri from behind, holding it up and as Dante tried to clear Riether stabbed at the ball and sent it to Logan Bailly’s right an into the net to make it 2-1. A tough loss, not made easier with Cottbus’ victory over Bielefeld, but a performance that all true Borussia fans can be proud of.
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach NewsHans Meyer on Borussia’s performance
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Per the Borussia web-site Hans Meyer discussed last weekends draw to KSC.
When asked if he was disappointed with the result he acknowledged the complexities of Karlsruher SC:
“Leaving wishful thinking aside, these are games in which you can be satisfied with a point. We’re not in a situation where we could approach any away game saying that a point would be disappointing. I was a bit worried ahead of the game, because I know that it can be difficult to travel to a team that plays well without getting results. And on top of that they had been without a goal for such a long time, which makes it even more unpleasant. Fact is: the draw helped us to hold one of our direct rivals at a distance. KSC are still five points behind us and if you look at their reactions, you know that it hurt them.”
Staying close to his previous comments noting that the relegation fight will go the last day the Borussia leader said”
“Of course it’s nicer to look at the standings and find yourself in 15th place. But a win wouldn’t have secured Bundesliga status, and a defeat wouldn’t have condemned us to relegation. I stick to it: it will be decided on matchday 34.”
Of the performance he added:
“There were a few things I didn’t like. The cooperation between defence, midfield and attack didn’t work in a few defensive situations. And we didn’t play proper attacks until the end when we had six or seven good opportunities to break. But we had nine players away on international duty in the past two weeks and only could train properly from Friday. Additionally we had to make do without Marko Marin and Rob Friend, who were decisive in 50% of our goals this season.”
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach NewsNullnummer @ KSC
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Borussia continued its fight to safety with a tough scoreless draw against Karlsruher SC at Wildparkstadion. With both sides fighting for safety the match was expected to be full of aggression and did not disappoint. The result continues Hans Meyer’s brilliant tactical plan and pulls Borussia within striking distance of Arminia Bielefeld, Bochum and Hannover.
Hans Meyer had the luxury of using Dante in his starting eleven for the first time and the ex-Standard de Liège man was rock-solid in central defense with Roel Brouwers. This allowed Belgian international Filip Daems to move to left back with Paul Stalteri at the right. Knowing full well that the match was a “must-win” for KSC, Borussia was cautious going forward and first hammered a well turned defensive role in the first forty-five minutes. At the re-start Borussia appeared more adventurous going forward with both Alexander Baumjohann and Filip Daems posing problems for KSC. By the hour mark, frustration grew for Edmund Becker as he saw his side having a problem breaking through Borussia’s tactical plan. In rapid fire succession Stefano Celozzi, Lars Stindl and Mahir Sağlık were ushered to find the goal that could salvage their year. KSC was throwing everything forward, came close with Sağlık’s attempting with just over ten minutes left but with the firm intent of resisting every charge the Borussia wall of defense was impenetrable and the match ended a 0-0 draw.
Category: Borussia Mönchengladbach News
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