Anyone who understands anything about the language codes in professional football could assume last night that Horst Steffen would no longer lead Sunday training. When asked about his future, Werder’s sports director Clemens Fritz said immediately after the final whistle of the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach: “It’s important that we let it sink in, think about it and talk internally.”
The number of coaches who remain in office after such statements is difficult to measure. It was already clear before the game that the game would have the character of a final for Steffen. The only thing that raised slight doubts about the Werder leadership’s decision was the artificial shot by Keke Topp, who had just been substituted, to make it 1-1 in the 94th minute.
“It was a difficult decision, but we are no longer convinced that Horst will be able to achieve the turnaround together with the team after this long series without a win,” said sports director Clemens Fritz on Sunday afternoon
The game against Mönchengladbach showed a similar picture to many previous ones: a team that tried hard, initiated a lot, but achieved little success due to technical deficiencies. Things didn’t look much different in the supposedly golden autumn, in which Werder worked their way up to eighth place thanks to a few narrow victories, but back then Werder repeatedly turned the close games to their side through individual actions.
A goodbye that hurts
Saying goodbye to Steffen will hurt many in the club and in the city. It was admirable how friendly and balanced he was in overcoming all the hardships he had to contend with since taking office – Serious injuries to top performers, late additions, a hodgepodge of players on loan from the international market – right up to the supposed savior Victor Boniface, whose time at Werder ended as a farce and revealed a bitter truth: top scorer Marvin Ducksch was sold without having anything close to an equivalent replacement.
Steffen tried a lot, moved from a four-man to a three-man chain, sometimes relied on combinations, sometimes on long balls, and often changed the offensive formation. And he achieved at least one of the goals set: He “succeeded very well in rejuvenating the squad” and creating new values with players like Karim Coulibaly, Mio Backhaus and Patrice Covic, said supervisory board chairman Hubertus-Hess Grunewald on Friday in the Deichstube.
That hasn’t been enough for the fans for a long time. “Patience is not limitless,” was emblazoned on a banner in the Ostkurve on Saturday, where political statements usually dominate. “The sweet talk has to end now.” And an online petition calls for an extraordinary general meeting with one goal: “Assessment of C. Fritz’s administration.”
These actions can be seen as an attempt to bring some movement into the deceptive calm that not only Horst Steffen exuded, but has long since become part of the DNA of the entire club. The quiet work has commanded the admiration of the rest of the republic for decades, but becomes an end in itself if it does not serve the quality of the decisions. Former coach Ole Werner seems to have felt this when he did not extend his contract last spring.
Lack of impulses
For over a decade, Werder has not hired anyone who has previously worked in the same position in the first division for responsible positions such as supervisory board, managing director, sports director, sports director and coach. They are or were all good people and quite a few of them still benefit from their apprenticeship at Werder today.
It is also a great strength to trust and support your own people. But a lack of external impulses – at the highest possible professional level – undermines any organization in the long term.
Clemens Fritz is now hoping for “a new impulse, new energy, new approach” from the new coach. This is the standard industry code if you don’t want to be specific yet. First of all, the assistant coaches Raphael Duarte and Christian Groß will lead the training, and it cannot be ruled out that they will sit on the bench for the next game in Freiburg.
One can only hope that those responsible for Werder know more precisely what and who they want in the relegation battle. Without a clear plan in hand, Steffen’s dismissal would be pure actionism – and that is just as dangerous as false calm.