Bundesliga

Decision “won’t take too long”

Published

1 month ago

April 16, 2022

Matthias Ginter spoke about his future. A decision “won’t take too long,” said Borussia Mönchengladbach’s central defender in an interview sports1.

When exactly that will be, the 28-year-old could not say. “It’s difficult to set a schedule,” said the international, “but I have no idea whether it will be in one, two or three weeks.” Until then, you have to “be patient.”

One of the most important criteria when choosing a new employer is the “family environment, which was always great here in Gladbach. For me, it’s also about the club itself, about the fact that it has potential and is ambitious and the sporting one planned for me role fits.” For Ginter, it is also crucial “that the coach likes you. There are a few sporting things, a few apart from them and ultimately you weigh them up.”

Herthaner surrounded by numerous stars! These were Magath’s “victims”

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Felix “Quälix” Magath has been training the pros at Hertha BSC for a few weeks. Many a player felt the wrath of the 68-year-old in the past – and now the first Hertha player too! We look back at Magath’s “victims”.

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Ishak Belfodil (Hertha BSC): Fun in training? That’s not something Magath likes to see! Now the first Herthaner got to feel what it means to train under “Quälix”. Bild reports that Belfodil will not be in the relegation duel at FCA.

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The 30-year-old is said to have shown a lack of body language in training. He lacks the bite. “There are no more excuses,” said Magath on a PK. You need “fight and commitment” now.

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Will the Algerian return soon? Not clear. However, experience shows that players have a hard time with Felix Magath if they have been noticed negatively because of a lack of attitude. A look into the past is enough to underpin this.

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Bastian Schweinsteiger (FC Bayern): The 2014 world champion struggled, especially in his early days under Magath. “Felix Magath wasn’t easy for me to see through at first either,” Schweini once said.

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After his return from the 2005 European Championship, the Bayern coach at the time would have trimmed him down. “I first sent him to the amateurs for two weeks to get him down from Olympus,” said Magath.

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When he returned to first-team training afterwards, Magath asked Schweinsteiger who he was. “So I had to introduce myself to him by name,” said Schweinsteiger

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“Then Schweini was away for ten days for an “operation on his knee”. “When I came back, he looked at me and asked again, ‘Who are you?'”

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Magath later commented: “The gimmick of our German team was nothing, you can’t join a club afterwards beaming with joy. I wanted to make it clear to him at the age of 19 that he’s not yet a superstar.”

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Bachirou Salou (Eintracht Frankfurt): It got a bit more violent with the Togolese in the service of the SGE. Coach Magath is said to have systematically bullied the striker until he finally joined Hansa Rostock.

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“I was humiliated by the coach. Even after injuries, I had to run, run, run,” Salou later said. “There was no more laughter, every player had to be careful what he said. I lost all fun in football with Magath.”

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In the meantime, Salou only called Magath “Saddam”, in reference to Saddam Hussein. Salou came from Borussia Dortmund in 1999 for the Eintracht record sum of seven million marks and was never able to meet the high expectations of the SGE.

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Adhemar (VfB Stuttgart): In the summer of 2002 the Brazilian, who had increasingly played no role at VfB under Magath, was loaned home to Sao Caetano. For a long time, however, the change was on the brink.

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And so Magath openly expressed his doubts as to whether the striker’s transfer would actually take place. “I’m afraid I’ll see Adhemar again in Stuttgart on Sunday,” said the VfB coach at the time.

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Jefferson Farfan (FC Schalke 04): “Mr. Magath’s mental pressure is gone, we’re happy again at Schalke. Until recently, many players lived in fear,” the Peruvian didn’t mince his words after Magath’s dismissal at Schalke 2011 .

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Under Magath’s leadership, Farfan had toyed with leaving Gelsenkirchen several times before: “The problems between Mr. Magath and I are undisputed. Under his leadership, I’ve considered leaving immediately.”

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Above all, the training methods of “Quälix” are said to have gone against the grain of the winger. “His military methods are ugly. They are questionable as human beings,” he later retorted Magath.

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Brede Hangeland (Fulham FC): After the central defender suffered a hamstring injury in 2014, Magath would have advised treating the injury with a piece of cheese. Apparently Hangeland was so upset by the action that he left the club.

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Magath’s later comment: “That’s cheese”. He only advised the player to “try the old house recipe quark”. He denied that he was responsible for the Dane’s departure.

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Steve Sidwell (Fulham FC): The midfielder also had his problems with the coach during Magath’s time in London. After an away bankruptcy, the team actually had a day off, but “Quälix” ordered penalty training.

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“You didn’t feel like running yesterday, right? So we won’t run today either,” Magath is said to have said. He blew his whistle and ordered everyone to “just stand still.” “It went like this for forty minutes.”

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Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke 04): During his playing days, the midfielder was always known as a friend of clear words. Even after Felix Magath was fired at Schalke, he freely said what he thought about his ex-coach.

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“I feel free and motivated again,” Jones said after fleeing to the island away from Magath. Actually, he would have liked to have played in the cup and the CL with S04. “But Mr. Magath has done everything so that I won’t experience that.”

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“Mr. Magath disgusted me – and no one helped me,” Jones later said in an interview. “That’s how I was cheated out of a DFB Cup win this season. That was disappointing.” In fact, Jones would later return to S04.

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Diego (VfL Wolfsburg): Under “Quälix” the Brazilian was mostly just sitting on the bench. “He was a player who only played for himself and not for the team. Unfortunately, he only used his skills for himself,” said Magath.

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Again and again the two had clashed. After an incident from the 2011 season, the relationship between Magath and Diego finally broke up. Wolfsburg fought against relegation in Hoffenheim on the last day of the game.

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But Magath didn’t field the playmaker, which upset him. “When I wrote the last name, there was suddenly a rustling behind me. Diego got up and said goodbye,” Magath later said.

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Wolfsburg ultimately saved itself, but it didn’t help the relationship anymore. Only after Magath’s dismissal did Diego flourish again: “We enjoyed the 90 minutes. I hope the old coach can be happy. We are now.”

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Simon Jentzsch (VfL Wolfsburg): After taking over from the Wolves, Magath made it clear to the keeper fairly quickly that he was no longer planning with him. “I couldn’t trust myself to go into the second half of the season with Simon,” he said at the time.

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Ultimately Jentzsch was sorted out and a new number one was brought in with Diego Benaglio. He fled to Augsburg, where he was supposed to be promoted to the first Bundesliga with the Fuggerstadt team in 2011.

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“The last year and a half in Wolfsburg were certainly not nice for me, but that’s the business. That’s done,” Jentzsch later said diplomatically. But he never had a personal problem with Magath.

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Patrick Helmes (VfL Wolfsburg): Having switched from Magath to the Autostadt as a desired striker, Helmes was increasingly sidelined due to numerous injuries. Ultimately, he was no longer considered under “Quälix”.

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In retrospect, he is even grateful to his ex-coach. “Felix Magath shaped me. I learned from him how to live and work like a professional, to give it my all every day and to subordinate everything to football,” said Helmes in an interview.

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At VfL it was still nothing. Magath sells him on to Cologne, where Helmes is plagued by similar injury concerns. In 2015 he finally ended his active career in the cathedral city.

Matthias Ginter: Trouble with Adi Hütter and Max Eberl?

When the defender made his decision public in January, coach Adi Hütter reacted by putting him on the bench against Leverkusen. “I think everyone knew that it wasn’t just about sport,” Ginter recalled. Even before that there were reports that there had been a break between the Freiburg native and Max Eberl when he had rejected a contract offer.

“No, that wasn’t right,” answered the Noch-Gladbacher when asked whether that had contributed to his decision: “The offer I received at the end of last year had nothing to do with my decision. I had made it met long before that for various reasons.” The 2014 world champion was no longer in contact with his former sports director, but he was certainly not resentful.

Ginter has made 29 competitive appearances for Borussia Mönchengladbach this season. Inter Milan is said to be among those interested, and Bayern have also been in talks again and again. It was not until the end of March that the right footer denied an agreement with the record champions.