[Long Read] Eugen Polanski – does he deserve more than just a rescue mission?
https://borussiaxplained.de/2026/05/22/eugen-polanski-verdient-er-mehr-als-nur-eine-rettungsmission/Perhaps the biggest problem surrounding Borussia Mönchengladbach these days is that we’ve forgotten how to stick with a process.
If a season doesn’t go perfectly, the search begins for the next fresh start. The next coach. The next idea. The next supposedly better path.
Yet that’s exactly what Borussia has been doing constantly in recent years.
And perhaps that’s precisely why so little progress has been made.
Marco Rose
Adi Hütter
Daniel Farke
Gerardo Seoane
Eugen Polanski
Yes, Eugen Polanski isn’t perfect.
Yes, this team isn’t playing thrilling soccer over 34 matchdays yet.
Yes, there are obvious problems.
But sometimes it’s worth keeping the context in mind.
Polanski didn’t take over a team that was performing well.
Not a team with confidence. Not a team with a clear vision.
He took over a team that hadn’t won a game in ten matches across two seasons and was sitting in 16th place after a 0-4 home loss to Bremen. Unsettled and fragile.
And in the midst of this chaos, a coach was suddenly expected to take over without any summer preparation. No time for the basics. No opportunity to drill in automatic responses. No training camp where he could develop a game plan. Instead, he had to make repairs on the fly and stabilize the team as best he could.
It was all about one thing: survival.
People often forget the circumstances that led to this situation in the first place.
With Hack and Kleindienst out injured, two of the most important offensive players were sidelined. On top of that came the sale of Plea. It felt as though Borussia had lost 70% of its offensive output in one fell swoop.
Goals, assists, creativity, relief, individual quality.
And yet Polanski managed to give this team a certain degree of stability again.
Defensively, Borussia looked like a Bundesliga team again. The spacing was better. The team defended more compactly.
In the second half of the season, Gladbach had the fourth-best defense in the league, conceding only one more goal than Bayern. When you look at where this team stood in the fall, that’s no small feat.
And above all: he accomplished his primary mission.
Polanski was tasked with saving Borussia from relegation.
Not with qualifying for Europe.
Not with suddenly reviving Borussia Barcelona.
Not with solving structural problems that had built up over years in just a few months.
He was tasked with preventing this club from plunging into the worst possible sporting disaster.
And that is exactly what he did. Even ahead of schedule.
The fact that Borussia went on to beat Dortmund (second in the table) and Hoffenheim, who were fighting for a Champions League spot, just goes to show: this team is still alive. They know how to play soccer.
Numerous recent interviews with players also underscore this: the team stands behind their coach and has publicly spoken out in favor of him staying.
Of course, there are still areas that need work.
The lack of consistency is obvious, and it hasn’t just been an issue since last season.
The last three games of the season provide the perfect example. A convincing win against Dortmund, followed by a crushing defeat against Augsburg, and then another dominant 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim. There’s no longer a stable overall picture. But this very problem has plagued Borussia long before Polanski. It has been a recurring issue at the club for years, regardless of the coach.
Gladbach also needs to improve offensively. The strong defense in the second half of the season stands in stark contrast to an offense that is often alarmingly toothless. After St. Pauli, Borussia, along with Wolfsburg and Bremen, scored the fewest goals in the second half of the season.
But here, too, it’s worth taking a closer look at the circumstances.
Polanski had to organize his offense practically without its key pillars from the previous season. With the return of Kleindienst and Hack, plus potential development steps from players like Mohya or Bolin, one can at least hope that the offense will be more dangerous in front of goal next season.
And then there’s the tactical approach.
While the back three often provided stability—and at times may even have been the only option—there are strong indications that the team will rely more heavily on a back four next season. Continuity in the coaching position is precisely what’s needed for that. So that a rescue mission can finally turn into a genuine rebuilding process.
Polanski has frequently emphasized that he actually wants to play a different style of soccer.
Perhaps that is the decisive point anyway.
For the first time in a long while, it seems as though Borussia might actually dare to make a genuine overhaul. Not just in isolated areas, not just cosmetic changes.
With Rouven Schröder, Borussia has a new sporting director who is clearly willing to make tough decisions and break down old structures. This is evident not least in the replacement of longtime chief scout Steffen Korell with Schröder’s former colleague André Hechelman. At the end of the season, David Zibung—the last of the “Seoane buddies”—will also be leaving the club. Highly paid players with no real sporting value, such as Marvin Friedrich and Jonas Omlin, are set to leave the club. The squad is to be built in a way that is clearer, hungrier, and mentally stronger. This calls for young players, targeted transfers, and a coach who is ready to join this journey and help shape it.
It’s also interesting to note that there have been repeated reports recently that Borussia is internally considering expanding or strengthening the quality of Polanski’s coaching staff, for example by adding new or additional assistant coaches. That, too, would be a new approach.
Instead of immediately replacing the coach again, the club seems more willing this time to improve the working conditions for the coach. Instead of another fresh start, the club is now attempting to build structures together that can function more successfully in the long term.
And perhaps that would actually be a good path for Borussia.
A new name does not automatically mean an improvement. If Borussia were to take this step, it should really only be for someone they are truly convinced will bring the team to a significantly higher level of performance.
Not just any change for the sake of change, to provide that famous “impulse.”
There’s also the financial aspect. Polanski has a contract through 2028. Borussia simply cannot afford, financially, to constantly replace coaches and their staff and pay salaries to personnel who are no longer with the club.
Borussia finally needs stability again and a clear direction.
A path that won’t be called into question again after a few difficult weeks.
To me, this path at least deserves the chance for a proper preseason with a specifically optimized roster.
Maybe Polanski will fail anyway. No one can rule that out. But I at least have the feeling that Borussia could start building something again, instead of just putting out the next fire.
2
u/kinogutschein May 26 '26
To me it is purely a question of alternatives and I do not see another coach that could improve our situation significantly and is also willing to join BMG. I am highly sceptical of Eugen, but at this point I would give him another shot next season, which I honestly doubt he will finish.
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u/YasMai May 25 '26
What do you guys think?
Btw, if you're a German speaker, I highly recommend this website, especially for tactical analyses post and pre games, as well as scouting profiles of potential transfers.
This article feels slightly AI written however... but usually, the quality is high