Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Eugen Polanski reveals details of half-time ‘team talk’ in crazy ten-goal Bundesliga match | OneFootball

The absolute insanity that was the Bundesliga’s Saturday evening “Top Spiel” saw ten goals scored between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt. Visiting Frankfurt rushed out to a 0-6 lead. The fact that Gladbach scored four unanswered to wrap things up with a completely deceptive 4-6 final scoreline nevertheless provided the hosts with no solace.

Gladbach now find themselves winless in 12 Bundesliga matches dating back to last season. Heidenheim’s win over Augsburg in an earlier Bundesliga fixture now means that the Fohlenelf are now dead last in the league table. Still working under an interim head coach, things are getting quite serious for the Niederrheiner.

“That was a desolate performance by the team,” BMG sporting director Roland Virkus told Sky Germany. “We lacked everything you need in football and were rightly 0-5 down at half-time. It must be said that the team made progress after the break, but one can’t sugarcoat a game like this. [Interim head coach] Eugen [Polanski] retains our support, but we all have to take a look at this together.“

Virkus had similar words to contribute one day prior to the eventual sacking of previous head coach Gerardo Seoane. BMG midfielder Rocco Reitz – who actually endorsed Polanski’s permanent appointment earlier this week – also wasn’t in the mood to sugarcoat anything when speaking to the Sky microphones. Reitz too – donning the captain’s armband again – still voiced support for Polanski.

“That was just nothing,” Reitz told Sky afterwards. “I’m extremely fed up and annoyed. From minute 1 to minute 47 [the time of SGE defender Robin Koch’s 0-6]. It was just disastrous for us. It had nothing to do with the coach. All of the players have to look at their individual mistakes.“

“We lost the game because of a desolate first half that has no place in the Bundesliga,” Polanski himself summed up in his post-match interview. “You can’t win a Bundesliga game if you play like we did.”

Polanski himself seemed all out of energy at the post-match press conference. In many respects, he looked like his team during the first half. Polanski revealed that he did everything in his power to help the team snap out of their funk. Like everyone else, however, he wasn’t in the mood to think positively.

“It’s not explainable,” a supremely dour-looking Polanski added later. “The body language after the 0-2 had a lot to do with why we were down 0-5 at the half. I can’t accept that at all.

“We have to apologize to the fans as that first half was totally unacceptable,” Polanski continued. “We appealed to our sense of honor at the half time break and were able to summon up some courage. The result looks better, but it doesn’t help us.”

“During the game I was in shock,” Polanski answered when a reporter asked him what words he found for the team at the half. “It was my job at the half to tell the team that things could be different. After that lifeless first half that doesn’t work at Bundesliga level, it got a little loud at the break.

“I called their attention two scenes from the first half that were content-centric,” Polanski continued. “And another that had to do with willingness and readiness. I was clear about the fact that it wasn’t them trailing 0-5, it was us.

“We had to come out of this and show a reaction together,” Polanski concluded. “And the fact that the team – after the 0-6 – didn’t fall apart but tried to show a unified spirit makes me personally happy. That ultimately doesn’t do much for us as a team.“

GGFN | Peter Weis