Bundesliga 2025/26 Tactical Previews: VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach

For the 11th installment of our Bundesliga tactical previews here on Get German Football News, we’ll travel to the Niederrhein to have a look at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. Now entering his fourth full season as the top BMG manager since the Max Eberl’s surprise resignation, Roland Virkus probably has the best squad he’s ever assembled. Some parts of the offseason counted as a bit clunky, but a core group of enthusiastic players and some stability at the head coaching position have helped this team inch its way to an identity in recent years.

How things might proceed for this particular “Verein für Leibesübungen” this year appears fairly positive. There encouraging been an encouraging training camp. Gerardo Seoane’s charges still stumbled a bit out of the gate in the Pokal. There remains no need to even begin contemplate pressing the panic button. Admittedly, that has a lot to do with the fact that they’re opening the season against Hamburger SV. A stumble against Merlin Polzin’s mess might call for a re-think.

VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach

We’ll give the summer work of Virkus and staff plenty of attention here. The preseason performances revealed quite a bit. Be forewarned that there’s some Haris Tabakovic spite strewn about the copy for reasons that – while explained – may end up being proven wrong should the Bosnian striker start producing. Wagering safe money on that outcome probably still isn’t advisable.  

Major personnel shifts, Gladbach

Estimated Summer Transfer Balance = +€3 million

The foals secured two major signings for the new season last January. Both Nürnberg’s Jens Castrop and Copenhagen’s Kevin Diks were brought on board during the winter transfer window. Castrop’s injury at the end of last season thankfully proved less serious than initially thought. Diks unfortunately had to withdraw after 45 minutes of action in the Pokal opener. Both players possess a great amount of talent and can help this team out quite a bit. One hopes for the best. The last thing this team needs is more lousy injury prognoses.

As summer commenced, those of us covering Gladbach on the Bundesliga beat found ourselves one more Ko Itakura transfer rumor story away from committing ourselves to an insane asylum. It was simply too much. When the Japanese international’s €10.5m sale to Ajax was finally confirmed, it almost seemed  surreal. At long last, the nightmare was over. Whilst traversing this two-month-span that felt like two decades, plenty of other interesting things happened in the Niederrhein.

The club moved goalkeepers around in preparation for the big training camp battle ultimately won by Moritz Nicolas. Two loans involving strikers (Tomas Cvancara out and Haris Tabakovic in) offset each other with €750,000 loan fees being part of each respective package. Oft-injured Luxembourg Yvandro Borges Sanches was sold to Heracles Almelo for a negligible fee, but Virkus hedged his bets with a buyback option. The big splurge of the summer saw Gladbach acquire Holstein Kiel attacker Shuto Machino for €8m.

Sigh. Sadly, the Samurai international has been hurt and thus not as impactful an addition as previously hoped for. Two more club regulars departed over the summer. Bundesliga fans shall miss French attacker Alassane Plea and Austrian right back Stefan Lainer. The season will feel truly weird without the latter. How can spring come without there being some sort of debate as to whether Lainer or Joe Scally should start? Guess we’ll have to start getting used to discussions about the left back slot, or just substitute Diks for Lainer.

Notes from camp, Gladbach

The summer test fixture slate kicked off with a 3-0 win over Erzgebirge Aue. Nothing but positives to report from that one. Promising young Japanese attacking prospect Shio Fukuda grabbed a blitz brace. Kevin Stöger looked immensely comfortable in the ten slot. Philipp Sander also shined in a stable midfield role. Then came a 1-3 defeat against Ukrainian side Metalist Charkiw in a charity fixture. Nothing to be too concerned about there. Diks and Stöger helped set up an early goal from Tabakovic. That’s all that really mattered.

Seoane tried out a few things (Diks at right back, Fabio Chiarodia in central defense, young Wael Moya on the left and Castrop in midfield) against Nürnberg in the third friendly. The foals beat Miroslav Klose’s club 2-0 at the Morlock. Nürnberg were right wretched putrid in this one and have managed to look consistently awful since competitive play started. As such, there isn’t much to derive from it apart from the fact that Seoane remained committed to a 4-2-3-1 with a rough spine throughout.

The spine remained in place for a 2-0 victory over Valencia and a 2-2 draw against Brentford. Diks (from the spot) and Robin Hack (from open play) took care of the goals in the victory. The result in West London very much flattered the German guests. It proved a bad day for keeper Nicolas and all six actors in the 4-2-3-1 tasked with some basic defending. Franck Honorat and Grant Leon Ranos supplied the goals at the Community Stadium. Not counting the charity match, Gladbach did manage an undefeated pre-season.

Winners from camp, Gladbach

Kevin Stöger, AM

Plea’s departure hands the former VfL Bochum hero his chance to finally excel at his best position. The 31-year-old journeymen turned in one of the best camps of any Bundesliga professional and it came as no surprise to see him register two assists in the Pokal. Theories abound as to why Stöger had such a disappointing freshman campaign with his fourth Bundesliga club. Some blamed Plea’s presence. Others Seoane’s often illogical rotations. Still others claimed he had lost his touch or was never more than a flash-in-the-pan player.

One thing is for certain. His set-piece delivery last season wasn’t up to snuff. It also appeared sometimes as if the Austrian was overthinking matters or simply putting too much pressure on himself. We’ve certainly seen that from him before in his weird career that’s taken him to six separate German footballing clubs. In any case, Stöger is back on the rise now. One wishes one could say the same about Sander after his strong start to training camp. Maybe that’s the presence of Julian Weigl. Or Seoane’s often illogical rotations. Or Sander is more of a flash-in-the-pan player.

Frank Honorat, RW

Two quality goals from the Frenchman in the pre-season. An assist in the Pokal. Honorat counts as one of those players who just doesn’t experience form dips whenever healthy. A true gift to German football. We’re all so pleased that this silky smooth playmaker will be hanging around for the foreseeable future. Hopefully he can stay healthy and retain his “assist-meister” reputation in Tim Kleindienst’s absence. Franky will unfortunately have to work a great deal harder with Tabakovic leading the line. Woof. One foresees a slight problem here. Shuto Machino please get fit soon!

Robin Hack, RW

Like Sander, it came as no surprise to see Hack debut strongly in the Pokal. The Pforzheim-native turned in a very strong camp, particularly towards the end. We got our first taste of the “Robin Hack Doppelpack Geschmack” with his brace in the cup fixture. Only got to say that once last season in January. Seven months is a long time to wait. Technically, Hack delivered an “assist Doppelpack” in March and lord knows how many “pre-assist Doppelpacks” since. Regrettably, the “pre-assist” chapter of footballing data books is generally when even most of us footballing “super-nerds” give up. We have limits too.

Kevin Diks, CB

We’ll have to see what this injury is all about, but first impressions happen to be damn good. Diks knows how to pick out the right ground threads and can also launch from the deep. He can pivot to the right and help out in midfield on a dime. What a tragedy it shall be not to see him blaze through the Bundesliga. Something that gives one pause concerns the fact that there’s been some minor injury scares in camp too. The 28-year-old might be growing a bit frail. Let’s hope for the best.

Losers from camp, Gladbach

Haris Tabakovic, LS

Okay. Full disclosure. The author just doesn’t like this player. And yes, it has everything to do with his association with that Hoffenheim rapscallion Roger Wittmann. Hoffenheim should have never signed Tabakovic out of the 2. Bundesliga to begin with. Respect to Hertha for refusing to take his over-salaried ass back, Tabakovic has a higher bar to meet than most other Bundesliga strikers when it comes to proving himself at this level. At the moment, he’s sorely behind the curve. Ugh. To the extent that one can be happy about something at Hoffenheim, it’s been great to watch Max Moerstedt take his place.

Luca Netz, LB

It’s tight. So very close. Luca Netz vs. Lukas Ullrich. Not exactly the “heavyweight battle of the century”, but it is kind of interesting to watch these two kids duke it out. They’re literally separated by a mustache whisker. It looks to be the case that Ullrich is just that one hair follicle better, but that can always shift. Imagine watching Joshua Kimmich and Philipp Lahm in some hypothetical fight in which they were both in their prime fighting for minutes at Bayern. Okay, Lahm-Kimmich would actually be infinitely cooler. Netz-Ullrich is more of a “featherweight undercard”.

Florian Neuhaus, CM

Well this one should be obvious. It’s been a genuinely bad summer for Flo. One would think that footballers know better than to get drunk at the Ballermann these days. That being said, is possible to feel a little sorry for Neuhaus given that he was actually poking fun at himself? Perhaps not. Germans expect a little restraint from their professionals. A tell-all-memoir about the drinking days years late is fine. Just keep it private if possible. And don’t mention your salary!

Jonas Omlin, GK

Talk about a bad summer. Maybe the former captain can take a page from Yann Sommer’s playbook and start some kind of cooking blog. That’s assuming Sommer’s fellow Swiss international likes to cook. Maybe knitting is his thing. Or pottery. Who knows. In any event, he’s going to have to find something to do with all the extra free time on his hands.

Tactical Scout, Gladbach

A shaky start to competitive play for the foals saw Seoane’s men concede two goals against a fifth-tier opponent, though one happened to be a sensational distance effort whilst the other came off an immaculately executed counter. The fact that the likes of Stöger, Hack, and Honorat clicked so well in the opening 45 mostly renders the two Atlas Delmenhorst tallies immaterial. Gladbach performed well in this.

Lineup—Gladbach (DFB Pokal)

After Diks had to be subbed off at the half, they were still the far better team. Hack and Rocco Reitz missed out on chances to put the game to bed as the Westphalian guests racked up an impressive 4.4 xG total. Nico Elvedi became the unlikely hero with what would be the match-winner in the 68th. Some poor clearances and a lot of choppy passing in the first half were slightly concerning, but the team did better in the second 45.

What shall we see next week against Hamburg?

Lineup—Gladbach (Projected)

Unfortunately, we will be seeing more of Haris Tabakovic. He’s so terrible. God bless the crossbar for robbing the fraud of a goal in the Pokal. Machino isn’t anywhere near match ready. Seaone likely plays it safe using Julian Weigl to replace the ineffective Sander and Marvin Friedrich for the injured Diks. Castrop and  Chiarodia will get their days to start in these positions. Just not yet. 

GGFN | Peter Weis