Eugen Polanski reveals Gladbach ‘shock therapy’ ahead of Freiburg clash

Borussia Mönchengladbach manager Eugen Polanski says his players have been given a frank assessment of their recent mistakes as they look to respond against Freiburg.

The phrase “shock therapy” had been used around Gladbach’s training week following a disappointing start to the campaign, with Polanski’s side looking to tighten up defensively.

Speaking to DAZN ahead of Saturday’s game, Polanski admitted there had been little need to disguise the problems after a series of costly individual errors. 

“When you have such blatant individual errors, it’s relatively straightforward,” he said.

“I think the lads had already seen them themselves before we showed them.

“But of course, we had to address and show those four goals we conceded.”

Polanski also stressed that the responsibility does not only lie only with the player making the initial mistake.

“I think it’s about the individual mistake of the player concerned, but also about the reaction to it - the players around him who might still be able to rescue the situation,” he explained.

“On at least two occasions, they could have done so. It’s about how we react to that.

“In the best-case scenario, those individual mistakes don’t happen, or at least not in the areas where we made them.”

Despite the direct review of Gladbach’s recent problems, Polanski says the coaching staff have also worked to rebuild confidence.

“We also tried to pick the team up and strengthen them, especially the players who made those mistakes, and look ahead again towards today.”

Gladbach will now look to turn that response into points against Freiburg.