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Ex-BVB coach Favre: His time in Dortmund is over
Photo: FOCKE STRANGMANN / POOL / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel and Peter Bosz all played their last game as coach of Borussia Dortmund against Werder Bremen.
On Tuesday, BVB will compete on the Weser - and this time the coach had to leave beforehand.
Lucien Favre will no longer be responsible for this game.
The coach and club ended their cooperation on Sunday, the desperate performance in the 1: 5 against VfB Stuttgart the day before was the decisive factor.
There were days in the almost 30 months of working together when the end would have been a little less surprising.
Around November 2019, after an embarrassing 3: 3 against SC Paderborn, which was preceded by one of these bitter defeats at Bayern.
But BVB won the next game at Hertha, even though they were outnumbered for one half.
The switch to a three-way chain had shown success.
But it quickly transpired that Favre, an advocate of the back four, had to be pushed to his luck.
Favre remained Favre
Favre's time at BVB is a story of compromises.
The Dortmunders knew that after a turbulent season with Bosz and Peter Stöger, they were getting an excellent football teacher and impeccable people.
They accepted that they would get a hesitant trainer.
Borussia Dortmund's demands, significantly higher than those of its former Bundesliga clubs Hertha BSC and Borussia Mönchengladbach, had always been too high for him.
There have been many attempts to bend Favre.
In the summer of 2019, on a PR tour in the US, the coach appeared to have been convinced to sell the championship as a goal.
But after the first setback it turned out that Favre remained Favre.
Another definition of success
He was always true to himself.
The “decision-makers of the BVB”, who, according to the announcement, “unanimously” decided in favor of the exemption, remained true to themselves.
They would have liked to have got rid of the doubts, but Favre remained one for the second place, who stands in front of the last step like a climber in front of a three meter high, mirror-smooth wall.
"We had two very successful years and we have a team that would have had a successful season this year too," said Favre in farewell.
His definition of "successful" - two second places in the Bundesliga, twice eliminated in the Champions League round of 16, twice in the DFB Cup round of 16 - is different from that of BVB.
The early failure in the "do-or-die-games" fed the doubts.
Favre was always loyal.
He never asked for anything, neither support nor new players.
The fact that he got a second center forward in the squad with the 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko because of biological progress is a failure of the decision-makers.
It became apparent when Erling Haaland injured himself.
Did the players still trust him?
Favre defended his "fake strikers" Marco Reus, Julian Brandt and Thorgan Hazard.
The fact that those in the front line never felt right and in good hands was ultimately his undoing.
The fact that Jadon Sancho lost class and pace after an outstanding season in the current season, Favre excused with the age of the Englishman.
An excellent argument, but all in all, it was too many players of all ages who got out of step in the end.
Whether the players (still) trusted their coach, trusted him to get them back on track, is a question that can only be answered within the team and the inner circle of the club.
Terzić's successor has a different public appearance
Edin Terzić will know.
The 38-year-old Croat, born in the Sauerland, was a member of Favre's staff.
He stepped in for the Swiss when he had to stay home sick.
His public appearance was very different from the appearances of Favre, who often struggled for words and then often only found the same.
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Edin Terzić (second from left) takes over the coaching bench at BVB
Photo: FRIEDEMANN VOGEL / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
When he said on Saturday after the game against Stuttgart that the team had to "show a sign" in Bremen, the audience was amazed because he had never said that before.
It suggested that something was different.
The quick separation came as a bit of a surprise.
Also the successor, because Enrico Maaßen from the Regionalliga team has long been the favorite for the Favre successor.
Terzić is closer to the team than Maaßen, according to the club.
How close Favre was to her in the end remains an open question.
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