Was this defeat one too many?
Lost another game in the final phase after taking the lead. The crisis is getting worse and more dramatic in the table. That’s why the next coach wobbles.
It’s not about Bayern’s Thomas Tuchel (50) – but about Thomas Letsch (55) at VfL Bochum.
In the basement duel against Cologne, he and his team lost 2-1 by conceding goals in the 90th minute and injury time.
Suddenly hope againEmotional Cologne party in injury time!
Source: Image04/06/2024
“We will analyze this and draw the right conclusions from it. We shouldn’t fall into activism. Nevertheless, we have to tackle the whole thing. It’s not just the team that is in demand, but also the coaching team,” says Bochum’s sports director Patrick Fabian (36) when asked by BILD.
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▶ So it’s clear: Letsch is shaking!
Fabian continued: “At some point it’s no longer bad luck if the same thing happens – then there’s more to it. When you’re in a spiral like that, you become even more nervous. We can’t continue in this form.”
Fabian is alluding to the many lost leads that put VfL in acute danger of relegation again. The previous week, Bochum lost a 2-0 draw against bottom-placed Darmstadt (2-2). Leads against Mainz, Bremen and Augsburg also failed to last this season.
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The balance of the last six games is quite dramatic: after the 3-2 win against FC Bayern, there were five defeats and one draw. The opponents were, among others: the direct competitors Gladbach (2:5), Mainz (0:2), Darmstadt and Cologne. The lead over relegation place 17 is only four points, and in relegation place 16 it is only three points.
Bochum sports director Patrick Fabian decides whether coach Letsch can continue
Photo: David Inderlied/dpa
For the VfL boss, it may now be all about sending a signal as a wake-up call to prevent relegation. Fabian to BILD: “We will discuss this with this coach. I understand that it’s about impulses and signs. I’m a fan of assessing this calmly. But of course: We will discuss with him what his solutions are to stop this brutally negative trend.”
The search for a solution begins on Sunday. Fabian: “We will sit down with all the top performers and leaders and think about it together.”
Means: Players like goalkeeper Manuel Riemann (35), captain Anthony Losilla (38) and Patrick Osterhage decide the fate of Letsch.
Players like goalkeeper Riemann are being asked whether Letsch is still the right coach.
Photo: David Inderlied/dpa
It is questionable whether they are still behind the coach, who only extended by two years last autumn and whose contract also applies to the 2nd league. Because: Letsch failed again in Cologne with a security tactic and very defensive changes in the final phase (including defender Ordets for playmaker Stöger and fighter Wittek for striker Hofmann in the 77th minute). Afterwards there was no more relief for VfL Bochum. In addition, the signal given to their own team to maintain the result in the last 15 minutes was the wrong one.
Cologne came back into the game and won in the final phase. Letsch received a BILD grade of 6.
When asked by BILD about the discussion about his job, he himself said: “I think I’m the wrong person to talk to. My job is to work through this game and look for solutions.”
How can the crash be explained? Letsch: “I don’t know…”
2024-04-06 20:07:49
#Bundesliga #coach #fired #Sports
