DThe stunned face was still written on Uwe Rösler’s face when the coach clarified the first of the many personnel questions after the relegation shock – namely his own. To give up? At the low point? This is out of the question for Rösler at Fortuna Düsseldorf. “At the moment there is an uncanny emptiness for all of us, including me,” confessed Rösler. But: “I still have a year contract. I look forward to the task of being able to make amends. We have to build a new team, ”announced the 51-year-old after the 0: 3 at Union Berlin and the fall into the second division.
Rösler wants to stay. And Rösler should remain as one of the few constants. After the Bundesliga relegation, the Fortuna is at a crossroads. A fresh start in the football lower house is certainly not a sure-fire success. Uwe Klein also knows that. The new sports director stood in front of another interview wall in the stadium at the Alte Försterei as the coach and reaffirmed the Düsseldorf idea to continue trying with Rösler, who had failed as the rescuer.
“We will analyze this in peace, with Uwe Rösler, who will also be our trainer next season, and will then try to set up a powerful team for the second division,” said Klein in the ZDF interview. At least slight doubts about the continuity promised before the relegation due to a possible spontaneous reaction by CEO Thomas Röttgermann were thus dispelled. Despite only two wins in 15 games with Rösler and only eight points in the nine ghost games.
Rösler’s promise to make amends for the sixth relegation from the Bundesliga for the 125th anniversary of the club is also a risk. A forced, radical fresh start in another league has created long-term problems for other clubs. The Fortuna itself was four years old at the beginning of the millennium. It took the club five years after the last relegation in 2013 to return to the Bundesliga.
The team that Rösler took over from the luckless veteran Friedhelm Funkel in the last place in the table in January will no longer come together in the composition. 17 contracts end. Much of the Fortuna moves in the dark. Klein will be challenged before Rösler. And the former professional is even shorter in the job than the head coach. “This is a real low blow. We had planned so much, ”admitted Klein, who took over from Lutz Pfannenstiel in the middle of the corona season.
Klein has headed the squad planning and scouting department for the past four years, but he has only been responsible for sports for a few weeks. He quickly has to gain a profile and boost the restart with a cut budget. TV revenues alone are almost halved to around 20 million euros. “Now smart decisions have to be made. These will be very labor-intensive and difficult weeks, ”said the former coach Sparkle of the“ Bild ”newspaper.
Which of the 17 players will remain seems difficult to predict due to the uncertainties of the Corona crisis. To make matters worse, the few professionals with a promising format will hardly stay, even if they still have a contract. For Kaan Ayhan there should be offers from the Bundesliga, for Kenan Karaman too. Erik Thommy belongs to promoted VfB Stuttgart.
In 2013, an apparently secure starting position was still wasted on the last match day. At that time there was a 0: 3 in Hannover. The déjà vu hurt. Funkel also stated via “Image”: “I will not be well for the next few days because I have the feeling that this relegation was absolutely avoidable.” Under him, the Fortuna was the last with only 15 points from 19 games on a relegation course.
Rösler’s compliments to his team that the team “gave him everything” also seemed rather out of place. Once again, after a crash, the Fortuna had to ask the question: Why actually? All 16 teams placed in front of Düsseldorf were certainly not better in terms of sport. But probably more consistent and clever.
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