Adi Hütter stops at Borussia Mönchengladbach: stylish, but unavoidable

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In the end they busted each other: Adi Hütter and the players

Photo:

Federico Gambarini / dpa

It was a decent exit.

Adi Hütter himself announced his departure from Borussia Mönchengladbach after just one year, and he didn't even try to deny his own responsibility for this disappointing season.

"I could certainly have done one or the other better," said the coach, in the dressing room there should have been standing ovations from the players for Hütter when the farewell was announced, the team had perhaps the best 5-1 win over 1899 Hoffenheim seasonal performance shown.

Coaches and players busted each other on the pitch afterwards.

It seemed like Hütter had found himself and this club after all.

when it was over

Birth defects in commitment

With high expectations, the Austrian was taken away from Frankfurt by manager Max Eberl at the beginning of the season, not least with the help of a transfer fee that is said to have been around 7.5 million euros.

Which documents the appreciation of the work that Hütter has done at Eintracht.

But that was also a kind of birth defect in the relationship between Borussia and the coach.

After all, Hütter's predecessor Marco Rose, with his departure from a current contract, led to a serious rift with the Gladbach fans, who must have felt like betrayed lovers when Rose moved to Dortmund.

The fact that Hütter, who was also under contract in Frankfurt, was directed to Gladbach in the same way made the emotional closeness to the Austrian difficult from the start.

The distance between coach, team and fans was a constant throughout the past season.

Hütter had presented the highlight of the 5-0 gala against Bayern Munich in the cup in October, the intoxicating evening that indicated what is possible in this team remained a lonely highlight in a season that ultimately left only disappointed.

Eberl got bogged down

After a decade of success that was associated with his name, manager Eberl got bogged down in transfers and negotiations, his departure in January, burned out, frustrated, exhausted, was a turning point, the most visible sign of the upheaval the club is in.

The presidency of Borussia with the 80-year-old club boss Rolf Königs at the top and the 79-year-old ex-coach guru Hans Meyer urgently needs a refresher, with the promotion of the 58-year-old Stefan Stegemann to the post of vice-president is at least a start.

Eberl's departure has also exposed the weaknesses of the club's management.

The club was suddenly without its leading figure and Hütter without the one who brought him to Borussia and who was supposed to be his closest advisor.

Eberl's successor Roland Virkus knows the club inside out, but as sports director he is a novice and is only slowly finding his way into his role.

doubts about commitment

The coach had also found a team when he took office in which several top performers had toyed with a change at the beginning of the season.

With players who left the feeling that they actually had a higher calling than playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Thus, early in the season, the image emerged of an unambitious squad without passion, which regularly fell apart in terms of football when the opponent resisted with determination.

Leads from the first half were repeatedly lost after the break, and the coach gave little indication that he could give impetus from outside in critical situations in the game.

On the contrary, deficits in fitness were also revealed when the team slumped more frequently towards the end of the season.

Too many disappointments

Two humiliating defeats in the derby against 1. FC Köln, the 0:6 at home against SC Freiburg, an embarrassing 0:3 in the DFB Cup at second division Hannover 96, the 2:3 at VfB Stuttgart after a 2:0 lead – this season has been a series of frustrating experiences for fans who have become increasingly indifferent to what is happening on the field.

When Borussia made it 3-3 at the last minute in Freiburg three weeks ago, numerous fans refused to celebrate.

Too much had happened.

Hütter's farewell, no matter how stylish it was, is a reason for relief for many Borussia fans.

However, it is far from certain whether it will get better in the future.

National player Matthias Ginter leaves the club in resentment, the future of other players is uncertain.

So far we have heard next to nothing about new signings.

Favre as a longing name

Borussia is again missing out on the international places, which doesn't make it any easier to encourage players to stay or to lure professionals from abroad to come to the Lower Rhine.

The name Borussia Mönchengladbach still has a reputation, but there are now enough clubs from 1. FC Union Berlin to Eintracht Frankfurt that are in the process of overtaking Borussia in terms of attractiveness.

In view of these less than rosy prospects, it is understandable that the longings of many Borussia fans are capricious to the name Lucien Favre.

He has been associated with a hard-to-shake spell since his time in Mönchengladbach between 2011 and 2015.

How Borussia blossomed under him, from relegation contenders to Champions League club, has reserved a place in his heart forever.

How exhausting, how dependent on moods the Swiss could be, how often he flirted with the resignation if things didn't go according to plan, was accepted.

However, he always had Eberl at his side, who was able to cushion Favre's quirks in public.

It is said that there have already been talks between Borussia and Favre.

A return of the now 64-year-old would certainly be a football-romantic move, it's temptation and danger in one.

2022 is no longer 2011, Roland Virkus is not Max Eberl, and time cannot simply be brought back.

On the other hand, nothing in Favre's career went as well as it did with him and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

After months of silence, Eberl spoke up for the first time this week.

In an open letter to the fans, he once again explained the reasons for his departure and asked for understanding for his step: "Just continuing like this would have been threatening."

Eberl also wrote that he would now continue to "enjoy great experiences and people and thus take the necessary time to recharge my battery and my heart".

Continuing like this would have been dangerous.

In a certain sense, this also applies to the club.

The club and Hütter have now recognized that.

Borussia Mönchengladbach also has to recharge their batteries and hearts.