Alexander Blessin takes Borussia Mönchengladbach to Cologne on Sunday with four defeats, 16 goals conceded and a defence that needs rapid repair. The 53-year-old has had little time since replacing Eugen Polanski, but the Rhine derby offers an immediate chance to put points on the board for the Bundesliga’s bottom club.
Gladbach’s permanent head coaches have usually avoided defeat in their first match. Excluding interim appointments, only Bernd Krauss lost his Bundesliga debut in charge over the past six decades, beaten 5-2 by 1. FC Saarbrücken on matchday 13 of 1992-93. Blessin will not rely on that record. His first training sessions have been loud, detailed and demanding.
The new coach wants a more active side, especially without the ball. Gladbach drew 1-1 with FC St. Pauli in last Saturday’s friendly, but Blessin felt his team lacked intensity for too long. He has stressed the need to attack the ball, close spaces behind the first press and avoid allowing simple passes through the middle. “It is about the mindset,” he said. “We have to work well within our structure.”
The defensive figure is the urgent one: 16 conceded across the opening four league fixtures. Blessin sees the derby as a possible turning point and said the squad wants to use it as an impulse for the season.
A back three and a possible new midfielder
Blessin is expected to move away from the back four restored by Polanski for the new campaign. His preferred framework is a 3-4-2-1, although international duty has complicated the work. Ko Itakura spent time with Japan, Kevin Diks only returned after winning the Asean Cup with Indonesia on Monday, and 19-year-old Jan Leszczynski was away with Poland’s Under-20 side.
Diks and Itakura are likely to be joined by Leszczynski in Cologne if Itakura is fit. The Japan international was also carrying a knock while away and will undergo further checks. Blessin said Itakura and Diks would receive a concentrated tactical briefing to catch up on the work of the past 10 days. “We need to get across to them as quickly as possible what we have developed,” he said.
There could also be a change alongside Philipp Sander in the double pivot. Zento Uno, the 22-year-old summer arrival from Shimizu S-Pulse, has yet to play a competitive match because of injury but is now an option. He is the clearest holding midfielder in the squad: physically strong, suited to winning the ball and capable of defending forward.
Blessin rates the Japanese midfielder highly. “He has a lot of quality and is exactly the sort of player I like because he is very good at stepping forward to defend,” he said. Starting Uno after no competitive minutes would carry risk, but Gladbach need presence in midfield as much as stability behind it.
The coach has acknowledged the scale of the task. “The situation is serious,” he said at his presentation, while insisting the club can turn a difficult spell into a positive one. A first league point, or more, in Cologne would give that work an early foundation.
