A few months after leaving Norwich City in November 2021, Daniel Farke arrived in Russia. His new club was FC Krasnodar, just a stone’s throw from the border with Crimea. Farke would be replacing Viktor Goncharenko. Why Goncharenko had been let go was unclear – the club’s statement on January 5th consisted of one sentence, simply confirming his contract had been terminated – but just a few days later, Farke was announced as the new boss. By March, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Farke and his staff were gone. He hadn’t coached a single game.

It must have been odd for a man who had been so beloved by the fans of Norwich, and had built a considerable reputation during his time there and with his previous clubs, to end up in footballing limbo. Fired by Norwich for an inability to collect results in the Premier League, arguably caused by a laughable level of investment in his playing squad, and now displaced from his new job by war, Farke must have wondered how things had gone so wrong so quickly.

A lifeline came from his home country. Borussia Mönchengladbach, once something of a domestic and European powerhouse, wanted Farke to help them on their quest to rebuild their glory days of the 1970s. Gladbach had a talented squad and had qualified for the Champions League in 2020, but since then results had wavered. Marco Rose and Adi Hütter had failed to build on the team’s potential, finishing 8th and 10th respectively, before Farke was brought in. By the end of the 2022/23 season, however, not much had changed. Gladbach finished 10th once again, and Farke was asked to move on.

To understand what happened during his one-and-done season in the Bundesliga, I asked a few Mönchengladbach fans to tell me, in their opinion, what life was like with Daniel Farke.

What was the general reaction when Daniel Farke was hired?

Jonas Horvath (Writer and podcaster – schwarzweissgruen.de and the Pfostenbruch podcast) – Daniel Farke was known for his success in England. In particular, Pep Guardiola’s praise for his possession approach was spoken about a lot. His first press conference was met with euphoria as he promised much of what a fan wants to hear: passion, fighting spirit… he was infectious. The expectations were high.

Matthias (aka Möppi – host of the BorussiaXplained podcast) – When Farke was first appointed, there was a lot of hype. After Hütter, who oversaw the worst season for ten years, we needed someone to stabilise the team. He told us similar things as he did in the first Leeds interview; “I want them to fight for the colours… you have to see without kits that Borussia is playing on the field…” That gave us hope.

Matthias Hesler – I was excited as I knew what he did in Norwich. Our squad needed a complete renewal, and our finances weren’t the strongest since Covid, so Farke looked like the perfect fit as he showed that he could manage both in Norwich. Also, his idea of football was quite unique in the Bundesliga, so I was happy to get something different.

Alex B – I was really excited about Farke being our new coach. The way he approached the media in his first press conference and talked about his plans, the club, and how he wants us to play was just highly catching. He definitely knows how to get people emotionally involved.

What were the early signs of his football?

Jonas – It was said from the beginning that his style of soccer would take time. The start of the season went relatively well until the clear 1-5 defeat in Bremen. After that, the Rhine derby was won, so it was assumed that things could only get better. The team showed some good approaches, but after the long winter break at the latest, there was a break in the team.

Möppi – Like Hütter, Farke never got all the players he wanted or needed, but the first half of the season before the world cup break was quite stable. Even with some injured players, we beat Leipzig 3-0 at home. That climaxed in a 4-2 win against Borussia Dortmund before the break. We played with four man defence, with Julian Weigl as the number 6. Our defence was quite stable except the game against Bremen, where we took four goals in the first half. We could see his handwriting, which was the total opposite of Hütter’s. Hütter’s problem was, the football he wanted to play was too intense for our players. Daniel Farke wanted to play strictly with possession, which fit our team way better, but was sometimes too ‘boring’ for the fans.

Matthias – The early signs were good as we were undefeated until matchday five with a draw in Munich on matchday four.

Alex – There were two pretty strong matches (against Leipzig and Köln) early in the season. The rest was ok, but without any big highs or lows. We knew what Farke wanted to play, however it was difficult to really see this on the pitch.

How did the football develop as the season went on?

Jonas – After the winter break at the latest, the weak performances increased, especially away from home. The team was inconsistent: could beat Bayern, but went down in Berlin, Stuttgart or Mainz. This can’t all be blamed on the coach, as the squad was in the midst of a rebuild, but more than bloodless performances were expected, which the coach then more or less defended. That’s why some fans got angry, as they expected more than that.

Möppi – As the season went on, our opponents knew how to play against us. They fell back and let us play and we couldn’t break through. You just needed to defend compact against us and wait. Somewhere along the way, there will be a mistake and the opponent scored. It got increasingly frustrating.

Matthias – The whole season was an up and down. We never won two matches in a row due to our poor away form, but neither did we lose more than two consecutive matches. Until the World Cup, our defence was quite solid which changed after the World Cup – often due to individual mistakes – and then changed back after Farke started to play a classic 4-4-2 with the formal central attacking midfielder becoming the second striker.

Alex – The season continued to be very basic without any highs or lows, but with constantly more lows crawling into our results. The statements during press conferences did not reflect what was happening on the pitch. Even though I am a strong believer in Daniel Farke, one has to admit that the development in comparison to the previous season could not be clearly seen.

In your opinion, what went wrong for Daniel Farke at Gladbach?

Jonas – Farke was certainly also a victim of circumstances at Borussia. Basically, he was not the desired solution, since Lucien Favre had cancelled at short notice. At that time, the club had to react quickly, and he was available. The team rebuilding certainly also had its influence: the squad had not been fully assembled. The thing that he can be blamed for, however, is certainly his communication. If you promise a lot, you can’t dismiss bloodless performances as ‘it happens sometimes.’ His squad management was also anything but good, leaving many second-tier players dissatisfied. He is not a pragmatist, but gears everything to his game idea, so he always needs the right players. A club must be fully committed to him.

Möppi – I think just to blame his tactics would be too easy. There are three components that go together as always. His tactics, the players and the relationship with the fans.

I mentioned his tactics before. The Bundesliga in its current state is nearly unwatchable. Most teams don’t want to have the ball and just play a wide ball from behind. It’s tackling, after tackling, after tackling. It sounds fun, but it’s really not. There’s no play culture with only a few exceptions. We at BorussiaXplained call it Terror-Ball. Farke wanted to be against the trend and wanted to establish the system of ‘relationism’. It’s the complete opposite of the current trend in the Bundesliga. You want to get away from man-to-man defence and the strict positional play. It’s like a ‘flow state’. It was an ambitious and difficult plan, and I think he could have used a bit more pragmatism.

The player situation was also difficult. Gladbach had a major inheritance from our former sporting director, Max Eberl. A lot of players had expiring contracts and Roland Virkus did what he could not to lose them all. But there was not a lot of money to buy new players. As well as this, Farke seemed not to trust in some of the players and didn’t change often.

The relationship with the fans was very difficult. He talked a lot. And I mean A LOT. In Germany, some people called him ‘Schwätzer’ which is like a harsh form of ‘chatterbox’. A lot of fans accused him of glossing over the problems we had and of talking until we forgot what the original topic was. The atmosphere surrounding the stadium was so bad that, at the end of the season, the fans whistled when his name was called.

Matthias – In my opinion, Farke was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fans in Gladbach aren’t really patient given the last few seasons and Eberl left the squad as a complete mess up. On top, there were several injuries in important positions. Until match 27 we never played with the midfield that was performing well in preseason because Stindl, Plea, and Neuhaus were all injured at different points. Of course, Farke made some mistakes as well. His substitutions were always late (if they even existed), which led to unrest in the squad and the whole club.

Alex – From my very personal point of view, the fans turned against Farke because he was eloquently explaining what should happen on the pitch without actually showing results. Furthermore, minor decisions like club legends not playing from the start at the end of the season and almost no substitutions (one has to point out that we did not have the strength and quality to make impactful ones, however) were aspects that turned the fans against him. I believe that the fans and maybe parts of the club have not been ready for such a type of coach. He is very calm, tries to explain his every move and wants to convince the audience of his ideas. Unfortunately, many German football fans tend to take such things negatively and (especially regarding their favourite club) they do not think rationally. Therefore, they expect coaches and clubs to make irrational decisions/statements/actions, too.

What is your opinion of Daniel Farke now?

Jonas – Daniel Farke is a likeable guy, but he would have done himself a favour if he hadn’t talked so much. I personally wish him every success. I’ve listened to interviews at Leeds United where he’s let off the same phrases as he did at Mönchengladbach. I hope he will put that into practice at Leeds.

Matthias – I still like Farke and wish him all the best at Leeds United as I think he is still a good manager and can develop a whole club if he gets the time.

Möppi – We at BorussiaXplained saw what he wanted to do playwise, but couldn’t reach out to as many fans as we wanted. We also saw that he could have been more pragmatic. He was a bit stubborn in his playstyle and that led to the results that we had. I think his football can work, but not in the state the Bundesliga is in right now. All in all, I still like him a lot, but it just didn’t work out as we all wanted. I hope he will be happy at Leeds and he can get his ideas through. Because when it works, it will be good.

Alex – I still think very highly of Daniel Farke. I would have loved to have him as our coach for the future. I feel a tiny bit ashamed of our fans and culture to become so negative, when it was simply someone that the club thought they were ready for, but weren’t.

All in all, then, Farke’s time at Gladbach seems to tell the tale of a coach and club that weren’t quite ready for each other. There certainly seem to be things he could have done differently, but he was also hamstrung by an unbalanced squad and a fanbase whose patience was wearing thin. Sound familiar?

A huge thanks to Jonas, Matthias, Möppi, and Alex for their contributions.

(This article is free to read from TSB magazine 2023/24 issue 01. To buy paper copies or read more, click here) ⬢