Rot-Weiss Essen said goodbye to the first international break of the current season with a strong win over 1. FC Saarbrücken. A comment.
For some time now it has been “fashion” in Essen that a new coach wants to play Hafenstrasse football in the home stadium. What is that supposed to be?
It’s simple: fight, heart, passion, no frills. In short: Honest workers’ football. That’s what the enthusiastic fans want to see in the stadium on Hafenstrasse. In a 1-0 win over the previously unbeaten 1. FC Saarbrücken the 15,000 RWE fans among the 15,907 spectators experienced what they wanted to see: port street football á la Christoph Dabrowski!
The RWE coach, who has only been in office for two and a half months, hired his team impressively and they did everything the coach asked of his protégés before the game. Felix Bastians, Felix Herzenbruch, Niklas Tarnat – the best man on the field – and Co. went into every duel, almost straddling a bet and never lost a ball.
Symptomatic of the big heart of Essen and the will to fight was a situation from the first half when Herzenbruch and Götze shoved each other away in a duel against a player from Saarbrücken. Both wanted to win the ball for RWE. Red and white was so hot on this Monday evening. The unconditional will could be felt in the stands. The RWE fans thanked their team, got carried away and gave the team fantastic support, especially in the last crucial ten or fifteen minutes before the final whistle.
Dabrowski, the Essen coach so much scolded on social media, was responsible for his boys being so motivated. As already written by RevierSport at the beginning of the season: Dabrowski is the right man in the right place!
Maybe the Internet complaining against the 48-year-old will stop now. Here it was said recently that he was replacing or substituting the wrong players, choosing the wrong starting eleven, not being emotional enough or even being arrogant, absolute nonsense. These people should understand that the coach doesn’t have to match the fans, he doesn’t have to be the sidekick type of the fan base.
Dabrowski has to be the right man for this team and he is. The Saarbrücken game, but also the past games, proved that a development process can be seen. The football coach also had to reconsider and correct his original plan – to play attacking football on Hafenstrasse. On September 19, 2022, the fans saw what Hafenstrasse football in Essen should look like in the future against Saarbrücken. That will now be the benchmark.
In any case, the team and coach Dabrowski can now take a deep breath on a non-relegation zone for at least ten days, continue to work hard, and then show abroad how RWE wants and can also be successful abroad. There are two attempts, because it goes first to SV Wehen Wiesbaden, then to Freiburg II. Harbor street football abroad would not be the worst option.
