Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach speaks on heading to Heidenheim and provides Tim Kleindienst update | OneFootball

Newly appointed Borussia Mönchengladbach trainer Eugen Polanski wished to make clear that he hadn’t forgotten his humble roots when speaking at a Thursday pre-match press conference. Gladbach head to Heidenheim this weekend. The match against the Bundesliga’s current last-placed team will take place in the top flight’s smallest venue. 

Even though the Voith Arena (15,000 capacity) may be the humblest of all stadium’s in the top division, Polanksi himself was coaching the Gladbach reserves in the fourth division as the start of competitive play began this year. For the 39-year-old, every away match still constitutes a big deal. Polanski also provided an update on Tim Kleindienst’s return from injury at the presser. 

“You say that Heidenheim is the smallest stadium,” Polanski said at the press conference. “As it so happens, I didn’t know that. It’s bigger than the Regionalliga (fourth division) in any case. It’s a big stadium for me.

“They have a good team and a good head coach,” Polanski continued. “It certainly won’t be a cakewalk. We’ll be expecting a difficult match. There’s no danger of us taking this lightly. I won’t let the lads do that.

“Tim is our captain and a leadership figure,” Polanski said of Kleindienst. “His word carries a lot of weight. He strikes fear in the heart of the opponent. We [Kleindienst and myself] will look each other eyeball-to-eyeball tomorrow morning and he’ll let me know if he’s ready.

“We’re so much better with him around,” Polanski continued. “Maybe the medical staff doesn’t want to hear this, but the head coach already has some ideas kicking around in his head.“

GGFN | Peter Weis