Eberl’s fall from cult manager to fan target

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For 23 years – from 1999 to 2022 – Max Eberl’s heart belonged to Borussia Mönchengladbach. He was first a player, later a youth coordinator and then head of sports and general manager. In each of his roles, Eberl was a favorite of Gladbach fans. The same fans now insult him as a “characterless bull pig”. What happened?

Looking back: At the end of January 2022, Eberl resigned from Gladbach. “I just want out. I want nothing more to do with this football,” says Eberl with tears. The manager suffers from exhaustion syndrome. The sympathy of the fans is great. Because under Eberl’s auspices not only ten seasons in a row a single-digit place at the table, but also transfers from club greats such as Dante, Xhaka, Kramer or Stindl.

Return to the image of the enemy

Less than a year later, Eberl returned to the football business. And that at RB Leipzig, of all things. A club that, thanks to its sponsor Red Bull, stands like no other for the commercialization of football and is therefore a red flag for fans of traditional clubs such as Gladbach.

“What bothers me about RB is pushing players from Salzburg to Leipzig and from Leipzig to Salzburg. That has a bad aftertaste for me because they basically have two selections,” Eberl himself once criticized the construction with partner club Red Bull Salzburg.

Exactly such statements fly around his ears when he meets Leipzig and his old club, as was the case last Saturday. “Only empty words for appearances, for us only a bull pig” can be read on a banner in the Gladbach bend. The supporters even accuse Eberl of faking his illness to move to Leipzig: “Miraculous healing by Red Bull – if lies are part of the business model.”

Eberl: “That’s a lie”

The day after the 3-0 win, the 49-year-old defends himself against such accusations. “It’s just a lie,” says Eberl on the TV show “Doppelpass”. “I didn’t want to stop in Gladbach, I had to. I was sick and recovered happily, with the help of experts.”

Eberl has no problem with the criticism of his efforts in Leipzig. But the way he did it did not go unnoticed: “Everyone is allowed to express their opinion on my decision. I have to and will live with that. But this connection, that people say that I brought about this change in this way, is absurd. And that’s what touches you as a person.” (cmu)

Source : Blick