Position
Daniel Farke was not the only one to do some straight talking after last weekend’s 5-2 defeat at Borussia Dortmund. Mönchengladbach’s coach criticised the “sluggish challenges” made by his team. Jonas Hofmann talked about “easily losing possession and making wrong decisions,” Julian Weigl found it “a little embarrassing” and saw “big problems without the ball” and Christoph Kramer could “understand the dissatisfaction of the fans,” and that was also felt by the team. It was a bitterly disappointing first 30 minutes for Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Signal Iduna Park. Being 4-0 down after half an hour does not happen every day. Farke complained that everything that they intended to do was missing. “The scale of the defeat is justified given our performance in the first half.”
Gladbach did perform better in the second half and were almost able to make it exciting again in the closing stages with a penalty from Ramy Bensebaini and a goal scored by Lars Stindl plus chances for Luca Netz and Stindl before Giovanni Reyna rounded off the scoring in added time. The bottom line was the general lack of comprehension for a very weak first half. In the 2-0 home win against VfL Bochum a week earlier, the Foals found it difficult to get into the game and were laboured at the start of both halves. The match did end in a deserved victory for Mönchengladbach who have only been able to win one of the last five games along with three defeats and one draw.
The big club from the Lower Rhine have been too inconsistent this season. Impressive performances at home against FC Köln (5-2), Borussia Dortmund (4-2) and Bayern Munich (3-2) were followed again and again by heavy away defeats such as against Hertha Berlin (1-4), Mainz 05 (0-4), RB Leipzig (0-3) and now Borussia Dortmund. Following that defeat, the Foals are now eleventh in the table, four places and ten points behind the Werkself in seventh. 39 points after 32 games is the poorest return in twelve years.
Personnel
While striker Alassane Plea may return to the starting line-up after serving a one-match ban, defender Ramy Bensebaini misses the game in Leverkusen on Sunday after picking up a fifth yellow card in Dortmund. It is likely that Daniel Farke will be able to call on striker Marcus Thuram at the BayArena following his return to the squad against Dortmund after recovering from a groin injury although he was an unused sub. “With Marcus there is a good chance he will be available again in Leverkusen,” said Farke. Thuram did missed training on Thursday as he felt slightly ill. The 25-year-old, who is set to leave Borussia in the summer after four years, has scored thirteen goals and provided six assists this season. As Plea was unable to play in Dortmund, his fellow Frenchman Nathan Ngoumou assumed the role of centre forward in Farke’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation. As Plea and possibly also Thuram are available again, the pacy Ngoumou may return to the wing against Bayer 04 or drop to the bench.
Goalkeeper Jonas Omlin missed out against BVB due to a muscular problem. It remains to be seen whether the Swiss keeper, replaced by Jan Olschowsky, will be back in goal against the Werkself. In the back four, the 20-year-old Luca Netz will probably play on the left in place of Bensebaini. Nico Elvedi is a regular starter in central defence. Marvin Friedrich could be replaced in Leverkusen by the Japanese defender Ko Itakura, who provided greater stability in the second half in Dortmund. Julian Weigl and Manu Koné could again play in holding midfield. The former Leverkusen player Christoph Kramer has been on the bench in recent games.
Farke now has more alternatives in attack once again. Jonas Hofmann, with his ten goals, is not only one of the most prolific midfielders in the league but also one of the best providers with ten assists this term. And the captain Lars Stindl is always capable of scoring goals even though he has only played for a few minutes recently. The 34-year-old, the oldest Gladbach player in the squad, scored against Bochum and Dortmund. And if we remember the game against the Werkself in the Hinrunde: Stindl was brought on as a substitute on 56 minutes with his team 3-0 down and he scored twice in the closing stages. The stalwart will leave Gladbach to return to his hometown club Karlsruher SC. Before he leaves, he will definitely give his all once again in the last two games with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Performers
Thuram, Hofmann, Stindl: The attacking trio have scored 30 of Gladbach’s 48 goals in this campaign. The Werkself will need to pay particular attention to those three players. The Foals often score from set pieces with the biggest threat coming from corners. The eight netted so far is the third highest in the league. Borussia are difficult to stop when they are on top of their game. Coach Farke prefers to play attractive football with possession and creativity important to him – the top numbers in passes and pass completion (fourth best in each) demonstrates the quality of the Borussia game.
Problems
Borussia Mönchengladbach have only won one of 16 away games (4-1 at TSG Hoffenheim). Only Hertha Berlin (five) and VfL Bochum have picked up less points on the road than Borussia (9). The lack of consistency in performances has continued all season. In Dortmund, Farke spoke several times about the lack of discipline in his team that suffered several big defeats particularly in the Rückrunde and the players are not always on top of their game physically. No team has made fewer challenges than Gladbach and in terms of running only Bochum have fared worse and the 16 goals conceded in the final 15 minutes of games is the third worst in the league.
Prediction
This season has been disappointing for the Foals. They did make a very decent start and were sixth in the table after matchday 10 and eighth after matchday 21. However, the Farke team have only picked up ten points in the last eleven games. The result: A below-par position in mid-table. Sporting director Roland Virkus has already announced that following the end of the season they “will sit down together and analyse everything and that obviously includes the coach.” There has been speculation on the immediate future of the head coach recently. However, Virkus made it clear: “It is out of the question that we will part company with Daniel Farke in the next two weeks.”
Borussia Mönchengladbach now go into the last two games of the season away to Bayer 04 and at home to FC Augsburg looking to produced decent performances for the fans and to avoid dropping down the table by one or two more places. The Werkself have not been a favourite opponent for the Foals in recent years. Gladbach have lost six times in succession in the Bundesliga against the Black and Reds. And Mönchengladbach have not conceded more goals against any other club than they have against Bayer 04 (155). From their perspective, it is time to improve the record against the Werkself.
