Eugen Polanski can work in peace with Borussia Mönchengladbach’s U23 team. KFC Uerdingen, Gladbach’s next opponent (October 19, 2 p.m.), can only dream of peace.
Borussia Mönchengladbach’s U23 team is having a strong season. With 21 points from ten games, Gladbach is right in the middle of the promotion race.
Former Bundesliga pro Eugen Polanski, coach of the U23 team, raves about his team: “We have a really good team. The guys have internalized the playing system and the principles. We rarely have games that are real outliers. That increases the likelihood of victories.”
The young Foals have only suffered one defeat so far, against Fortuna Cologne, who are second in the Regionalliga West. Most recently, Borussia recorded a 5-0 victory against 1. FC Düren. Striker Noah Pesch was twice on target, scoring his seventh and eighth goals of the season to move to the top of the scoring charts.
Two weeks have now passed since the resounding victory against Düren. Gladbach’s youth team did not play last weekend. “In the end, we actually had three days off. The pros also used the international break to bring players up from the lower teams. That meant we trained in smaller groups anyway,” reports Polanski.
The next opponent is KFC Uerdingen, a club where there is a lot of turmoil off the pitch. This does not go unnoticed by the competition. “Of course, you notice it. I think it’s hard not to notice it, especially when you’re out and about here in the west,” Polanski says of the opponent.
Tomorrow, Saturday, is a sporting contest and everything else is secondary. And if you were to take it into account, you’d have to see it as a positive for the team because, despite these squabbles, they’re still performing well.
Eugen Polanski
Nevertheless, he emphasizes the sporting superiority of the KFC team: “On Saturday, it’s a sporting contest and everything else is secondary. And if you take it into account, you have to see it as a positive for the team because, despite these disputes, they are simply performing well.”
His game plan: “We want to play dominant, courageous soccer, gain possession and create lots of chances. In theory, it seems like a game in our favor, but practice will ultimately show how it actually is.”