The Fohlen - Bringing the '70s back

New Manager in charge!

Lucien Favre steps down to take over as Swiss national coach. He will take over this position, as soon as Ottmar Hitzfeld steps down as after the upcoming FIFA World Cup at the end of the next season!

The Club

Borussia Mönchengladbach was founded in the year 1900 and "the Fohlen" are up to now a 5-time german Bundesliga Winner and a 2-time Runner-up. Gladbach had a their peak time in the 70's and won all their Bundesliga titles and Runner-ups in that Decade!
In that Time Gladbach had players like Berti Vogts or Jupp Heynckes and the great Hennes Weisweiler was their Manager.
Gladbach also won the UEFA-Pokal against Twente Enschede in 74/75 and again in 78/79 against Red Star Beograd!

From then on Gladbach went down step by step. In the 80's 'til the mid 90's Gladbach were a safe mid-table team in the Bundesliga and were able to win the DFB-Pokal a third time in '95 ('60, '73).
At the end of the Century Gladbach got relegated for the first time and moved up and down from then on for a Decade. Gladbach got relegated 2 times and when they got promoted they struggeld to stay in the Bundesliga.

In 2010/11 it seemed that Gladbach again got relegated and already planned for the 2.Bundesliga, but then Lucien Favre took charge! Gladbach got the 16th place in the Bundesliga and stayed in the Bundesliga thanks to the playoff games!
The first full season from Lucien Favre saw the team ending at the 4th place and qualified for the Champions League Qualification Playoffs, which was a hugh surprise for everyone.
The best players (Dante-Bayern Munich-, Marco Reus - Borussia Dortmund- and Roman Neustädter - FC Schalke 04-) left the Club to join Gladbach fiercest rivals for the Champions League and Europe League spots.
Gladbach was able to stay in the Top10 clubs, but missed the Qualification for either of the two continental competitions. A main reason for Lucien Favre to step down and let someone bring in some new details to bring the club a little bit forward.

The Stadium

Borussia Mönchengladbach plays in the Borussia-Park, a arena which is of the highest standart in Europe and has the capacity for 54.407 spectators.

The Goals

• Qualify for Champions League
• Win the Bundesliga
• Dominate like in the '70s
• Win a European Competition

Good luck mate, will be good to see how you do.

The Squad

A quick view to see the Squad from Borussia Mönchengladbach for the upcoming Season!

Goalkeepers

1 Marc-Andre ter Stegen / 21 years old / Geman / 3 International Apps
19 Janis Blaswich / 22 / German / 0
33 Christopher Heimeroth /33 / German / 0

Defenders

3 Filip Daems / 34 / Belgian / 7
4 Roel Brouwers / 31 / Holland / 0
15 Alvaro Dominguez / 24 / Spain / 2
17 Oscar Wendt / 27 / Sweden / 22
24 Tony Jantschke / 23 / German /0
27 Julian Korb / 21 / German / 0
39 Martin Stranzl / 32 / Austrian / 56

Midfielders

6 Mahmoud Dahoud / 17 / German / 0
7 Patrick Herrmann / 22 / German / 0
11 Raffael / 28 / Brazil / 0
16 Havard Nordtveit / 23 / Norway / 10
18 Juan Arango / 33 / Venezuela / 116
23 Christoph Kramer / 22 / German / 0
31 Branimir Hrgota / 22 / Sweden / 0
34 Granit Xhaka / 20 / Swiss / 17

Attackers

8 Sinan Kurt / 16 / German / 0
10 Max Kruse / 25 / German / 2

Only 20 Players are in the Squad as Gladbach wants to get rid of some Players like Thorben Marx, Peniel Mlapa or Lukas Rupp.
The Squad was filled with two really promising young players, which will get some playing time in matches which already are decided. Sinan Kurt is a young 16 year old attacking midfielder, which will be used as a striker and 17 year old Mo Dahoud which is an outstanding talent and could be the Back-up for Granit Xhaka.

@joethequin thanks buddy, i guess your story got me interested in managing Gladbach!

Presentation of the new Manager!

Lucien Favre left the club in order to take over the swiss national team, as soon as Ottmar Hitzfeld retires as Manager at the end of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Favre wanted to give Gladbach enough time to let the new Manager let the team inherite his thoughts and his tactics!



Gladbachs new Manager is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Norway and as his assistent Manager Peter Schmeichel also was signed by "Die Fohlen".

Solskjaer and Schmeichel were part of the Manchester United team, which had won the UEFA Champions League in 1999 against Bayern Munich (2:1) in a final to remember.
Solskjaer had previous Managerial role at his former clubs Manchester United as the reserve squad Manager and Molde in Norway and led the team to the League title!
Solskjaer catched the attention of a few teams which fought for him to sign a contract, such as Cardiff City, Swansea City and a few Championships sides from England.

Solskjaers first statement was: Borussia Mönchengladbach has a hugh history, but has fallen over the last two decades. I hope to be the catalyst to turn this clubs fortune back to were it belongs. Peter and myself will give everything to bring back success to the Borussia-Park.

Pre-Season Update

Aachen 0-4 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Dominguez, Stranzl, Wendt - Xhaka, Kramer - Herrmann, Kurt, Arango - Kruse
Subs used: Heimeroth, Daems, Korb, Nordveit, Dahoud, Younes, Raffael, Hrgota, Brandenburger, Lenz, Holzweiler

Düsseldorf 1-0 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Korb, Nordveit, Stranzl, Daems - Dahoud, Kramer - Hrgota, Raffael, Younes - Kurt
Subs used:Heimeroth, Wendt, Dominguez, Lenz, Jantschke, Xhaka, Marx, Herrmann, Arango, Kruse

Young Boys 0-1 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Korb, Stranzl, Nordveit, Wendt - Xhaka, Kramer - Hrgota, Raffael, Arango - Kruse
Subs used: Jantschke, Dominguez, Dahoud, Kurt

Servette 1-2 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Nordveit, Wendt - Dahoud, Kramer - Hrgota, Raffael, Arango - Kruse
Subs used: Korb, Dominguez, Brouwers, Xhaka, Kurt

Aarau 2-2 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Daems - Xhaka, Nordveit - Hrgota, Raffael, Arango - Kruse
Subs used: Korb, Dahoud, Kramer, Kurt

Paderborn 1-1 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Wendt - Xhaka, Kramer - Hrgota, Raffael, Arango - Kruse
Subs used: Brouwers, Korb, Nordveit, Kurt, Mlapa

Wegberg-Beeck 1-6 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Wendt - Dahoud, Kramer - Hrgota, Kurt, Arango - Kruse
Subs used:Korb, Xhaka, Raffael

Gladbach 2-2 Twente Enschede

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Wendt - Dahoud, Kramer - Hrgota, Raffael, Arango - Kurt
Subs used: Korb, Xhaka, Mlapa

Gladbach 2-2 FC Braga

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Korb - Dahoud, Kramer - Hrgota, Raffael, Arango - Kruse
Subs used: Wendt, Daems, Xhaka, Kurt

Gladbach 1-2 Vitesse

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Wendt - Xhaka, Kramer - Hrgota, Raffael, Kurt - Kruse
Subs used: Korb, Nordveit, Dahoud, Arango, Mlapa

Solskjaers Resume

The Pre-Season was really akward, we had some good games against Weegberg-Beeck or at our Swiss-Tour, but the last few games were not as we wished, as we weren't able to win in front of our fans against Braga, Twente or Vitesse.
It was good to see that Mo (Dahoud) and Sinan (Kurt) were able to blend into the Squad and both of them will surely get some time in the Bundesliga this Season.
Now we need to have a good start into the competition games in the DFB-Pokal and the Bundesliga!

Bundesliga Players to watch

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is a 17 year old danish central midfielder who was signed to Bayern Munich in the Season 12/13 from danish club Beondby IF on a free Transfer. Pierre is a really promising talent which will surely see some playing time in a real quality midfield such as Bayern Munichs with players like Toni Kroos, Thiago or Bastian Schweinsteiger. The danish talent seems to be the 4th option at this position.

Maximilian Meyer

Another 17 year old talent. Meyer is a classic number 10 and already is already a part of the U21 squad Germanys at this young age. Meyer might get a starting eleven place if Kevin-Prince Boateng will be picked in a deeper position alongside Roman Neustädter. Meyer could be on his breakout Season and some experts say he has a hugh similarity to one of Germanys biggest talents in the last 20 Years, Sebastian Deisler! It will be interesting to see, if Meyer can cope with that hugh expectations in his person.

Donis Avdijaj

Donis is only 16 years old and also will be a part of the U21 squad Germanys over the next months. Donis could see little playing time in Schalkes first squad, as they have Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Adam Szalai in the striker position and they only operate with one striker. Donis catched the interest of a few Bundesliga teams in terms of a loan deal.
The player is to good for the Regionalliga West, where Schalkes reserve squad is playing and it wouldn't benefit him at all to play a whole season there.

Sinan Kurt

Borussia Mönchengladbachs Sinan Kurt is a 16 year old left winger, who can also play as a attacking midfielder or a striker. Sinan is part of the German U19 squad and already showed his talent in the youth teams. Sinan got promoted to the Bundesliga team and played a lot in the Pre-Season. He was used as an option to Max Kruse in the striker position and Raffael as the Number 10.
Sinan is right now in contract negoations with Mönchengladbach, but Bayern Munich already seem to got interested in the young german.

Julian Brandt

Julian Brandt is a 17 year old winger and recently signed a contract with Bayer Leverkusen. Brandt signed from Bundesliga rival VFL Wolfsburg. Brandt said that he wanted to play in a team where he has the chance to play in the UEFA Champions League or Europe League. Brandt is a promising player and already catched the interest from spanish club FC Barcelona and english club Manchester United.

Bundesliga Team Preview

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Borussia Mönchengladbach ended the last Season not far behind the Europe League places and could aim for a Europe League place this Season.
Gladbach got a new Manager, as Lucien Favre departet at the beginning of this Season and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge at "Die Fohlen" and made some little changes to the former 4-2-3-1 Tactics from Favre and made it to a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-1-2-3-1 this could change according to the situation.

Tactics

Gladbachs Possible Line up could look like this

Fortuna Köln 0:1 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Korb - Xhaka (65.Dahoud), Kramer - Hrgota, Raffael (60.Kurt), Arango (46.Herrmann) - Kruse

Solskjaer really didn't expect to need the extra time to get into the second round of the DFB-Pokal. Fortuna Köln even had the chances to get the hugh surprise and beat the Bundesligaclub.

The first minutes were really dominant from Borussia Mönchengladbach and Max Kruse and Raffael had severel big chances to score in the first 15 minutes. Following to the storm in the first minutes Gladbach seemed to hide and forgot to create chances and Fortuna Köln got the upper hand for the rest of the half and it was only thanks to Marc-Andre ter Stegen that they didn't concede a goal!
I don't think I ever had that much to do in half an hour, Köln had at least 8-10 big chances! said ter Stegen to the reporters after the match. We have to praise the oppositions attackers for the level they had played on, he went on in the interview.
ter Stegen showed that he will be a key factor to any success for the upcoming Season.

The second half saw some changes. Arango had to take a place on the bench and Herrmann took his place and he ran through the opponents defense severel times and made loads of crosses, but didn't found Kruse in the box. Raffael also had to head to the bench and young talent Kurt took his spot as the number 10. Kurt created loads of chances, Gladbach were really dominant in the second half thanks to Herrmann, Kurt and Mo Dahoud who came in as the replacement for Granit Xhaka. Gladbach only needed to score one of their chances, but after 90 minutes none of it found the net.

The extra time started with a bang. In the 95th minute Sinan Kurt intercepted a ball in the near of the opposition box, played it out to Herrmann and his cross landed on Max Kruses head. Finally Kruses header found the net, and he scored on his debut for Gladbach. The rest of the time Gladbach passed the ball around and retaint possesion. Köln was broken and didn't found anything to create a chance or even get near Gladbachs box.

Bundesliga Update

Gladbach 0:0 Frankfurt

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Korb(72.Daems) - Xhaka, Kramer - Hrgota (46.Herrmann), Raffael, Arango (46.Kurt) - Kruse

A really akward game for the spectators as they had seen an incredible amount of over 35 shoots by both teams. Sadly only 3 of them went on the goal and all 3 of them were an easy catch for Frankfurts goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. Marc-Andre ter Stegen didn't had a single shoot on his goal and had an easy night.

Augsburg 3:4 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Wendt - Xhaka (62.Dahoud), Kramer - Herrmann (70.Hrgota), Raffael (88.Arango), Kurt - Kruse

3 changes had been made in comparison to season opening game against Frankfurt. Kurt, Herrmann and Wendt started for Arango, Hrgota and Korb. And what a lucky hand did Solskjaer had at that night? All goals had been scored by these 3 players.
The opening goal had been scored by Ji Dong-Woon after 14 minutes, as the Gladbach defenders let him trough to run free on ter Stegens goal and chipped over the goalkeeper. Oscar Wendt scored a goal to remember, as he scored a goal from the corner spot! Young Sinan Kurt scored after the half time and brought Gladbach the lead with a hammerd shoot in the left corner. Just 2 minutes later it was Ji Dong-Woon again to score the 2:2 with a placed shoot within the box and just another 3 minutes later he completed his hat-trick with a shoot from 8 meters. His third goal and the third time ter Stegen had no chance at any of these goals.
Augsburg had the lead by this time, but young Sinan Kurt put in a performance of the highest standard. Only 20 seconds after Ji' second goal, he hit the woodwork with a shoot from over 30 meters, but 2 minutes later Gladbach again scored a goal. Sinan Kurt passed the Ball to Kruse who shoot on target, but Ron-Robert Zieler was able to punch the ball to the side, but right there was Patrick Herrmann and he scored an easy goal , as Zieler still was lying on the ground.
Only a few minutes before the final whistel had gone, Sinan Kurt scored the final 3:4 as he placed the ball into the net.

Gladbach 1:0 Hertha BSC Berlin

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl(58.Nordveit), Dominguez, Wendt - Xhaka (32.Dahoud), Kramer - Herrmann, Raffael (63.Hrgota), Kurt - Kruse

After the last game, Solskjaer didn't change anything. The game was really nothing special for the fans. Only a few chances in the first half, but nothing that really was dangerous for any goalkeeper. The only notable thing was the early substitute from Granit Xhaka, as he was really struggeling in the tackles and almost got himself a early second yellow card.
The goal of the game was a lucky one. Sinan Kurt tackled against Fabian Lustenberger and Raffael took the lose ball and crossed the ball in the box and Max Kruse headed the ball into the net.

Hamburger SV 5:2 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Nordveit, Dominguez, Wendt - Xhaka (46.Dahoud), Kramer - Herrmann (72.Raffael), Kurt, Hrgota - Kruse

What a match. Again we didn't play that well, but it was the first time that we didn't were lucky and that was reflected in the result. Jacques Zoua scored a hattrick in the game and made the opening goal, after a hugh mistake by Alvaro Dominguez! Sinan Kurt scored the 1:1 as he bended the ball into the right corner of the goal from the corner of the box. Hamburg still dominated the game and really quick scored another 3 goals and the game had been decided. Max Kruse scored the 4:2 at the end of the game and the players where roaring to get a draw, but Jacque Zoua ended that dream with the final goal a few minutes before the game had ended.

Gladbach 0:3 Hannover 96

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Nordveit, Dominguez, Wendt (46.Korb) - Xhaka (69.Dahoud), Kramer - Herrmann, Raffael (74.Hrgota), Kurt - Kruse

An appealing performance by the team. We were lucky not to concede in the first half, but then again a player scored a hattrick against us, this time it was Mame Diouf. He shoot 4 times on our goal, 3 got into the net and one hit the woodwork.
A really boring game, with none shoot from our team and only 4 from Hannover, but they scored 3 times out of it.

Bundesliga

Solskjaers Resume

We played not good the whole month. The first three games where succesfull, dispite the poor performances, but the last two games showed, how many weeknesses we still have. 5 games had been played and we conceded already 11 goals. That's not acceptable!
A glimmer of hope was the good display by Sinan Kurt, who scored already 3 Bundesliga goals and now is the youngest ever Gladbach and Bundesliga goalscorer!

Good luck mate, will be following!

@MrJK thanks, glad for everyone following and responding to the story!

VFL Bochum 1:3 Gladbach

Gladbach: ter Stegen - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Wendt - Xhaka (74.Dahoud), Kramer - Herrmann (81.Mlapa), Raffael, Kurt (82.Hrgota)- Kruse

Gladbach really stepped up performance-wise in comparison to the first round match and were the dominant team over 90 minutes, for the first time this Season. Solskjaer said that this game showed, what kind of fottball I like to present to the fans!

The game didn't need any time to catch the fans. A corner in the 3rd minute brought Gladbach the first goal of the night, as Alvaro Dominguez scored a header after Raffael brought in the corner right on Dominguez head!
Bochum weren't shocked at all. Christian Tiffert scored a goal that every football fan enjoyed, except the Gladbach fans and players, as he scored a shoot from almost 30 meters in the upper right corner and didn't let ter Stegen any chance of catching the ball. A scene which will be talked about is the harsh penalty desicion from the referee in the 29th minute. Christoph Kramer was alone in the box and about to shoot, as his opponent catched his jersey and brought Christoph into struggle. Max Kruse let Andreas Luthe no chance at saving the penalty and hammered the ball into the net.

The Gladbach fans saw a dominate team in the second half and they will be happy about that, after a few dissapointing performances. Raffael scored the last goal in the 68th minute after Oscar Wendt saw the attacking midfielder free in the 5m box passed the ball to him. Raffael had no problems placing the ball into the net.
The rest of the time Gladbach had the ball and let the Bochum players run after it. A few chances where created, but nothing spectacular happend after Raffaels goal and Gladbach moved into the 3rd round and deserved it after that performance.

Kurt wants more!

Borussia Mönchengladbachs shooting-star Sinan Kurt told about his desire to move to a better team in order to get some international experience. He wants to strengthen himself at a better club. This statement made other teams to scout him.

Sinan Kurt was recently scouted by Clubs like Borussia Dortmund, Bayern München, AC Milan, Manchester United, FC Barcelona and AS Monaco. Also clubs like Everton, Bayer Leverkusen and FC Sevilla are about to send scouts to a few of the next Gladbach games.

Solskjaer was asked by the Media what kind of plans he has for Kurt and said that "Sinan is now playing his first full Season in a senior team and he is doing an awesome Job, but I've tell you the truth, I think he needs another Season or two until he should think about a move to a greater club and maybe then we're one of this great clubs. At least that is what I aim for and Sinan is a vital part in this plans to gain this success and he shows, that he already can be a key player for a team like ours.

Nice start mate, really well written!