“Last Christmas, I gave you my heart but the very next day you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I’ll give it to Uwe Rösler.”
A cult hero for many English football fans (even if this is the most printable of the chants they have sung about him), Uwe Rösler has a new job and is off to a flyer. The Man City legend – who’s also had managerial stints at Brentford, Wigan and Fleetwood – has taken the reins at Fortuna Düsseldorf, lying at the foot of the Bundesliga.
Fortuna are one of Germany’s Traditionsvereine, an old club with a proud history. That history was accentuated last year with an impressive performance during their first year back in the Bundesliga since 2013 (and only their second season in the top tier since 1997). Led by uncomplicated coach Friedhelm Funkel, Fortuna recorded 13 wins as well as famous draws with Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig. Spurred on by the passionate support of their home fans, they avoided relegation with room to spare, and finished a creditable 10th.
This season has been harder work, however, and Fortuna have struggled to gain the points they need to steer clear of the drop. While Rouwen Hennings shone at times before the winter break, the team has lacked goals and been guilty of numerous defensive lapses that have cost them at key moments. One win in nine and a comprehensive 3-0 defeat at the hands of Leverkusen spelled the end for Funkel last week. And not just of his tenure at Fortuna – he announced shortly after being sacked that he would retire from football management altogether.
Enter Rösler. Once cast as one of management’s brightest prospects as his exciting Brentford team soared to within a crossbar-width of the Premier League, his career has hit the doldrums in recent years. Unsuccessful stints at Leeds and Wigan, and a sour ending after initial promise at Fleetwood, saw Rösler head to Sweden in pursuit of his next break – not the typical career path of an up-and-coming coach. After success at Malmo FF, with consecutive high league finishes and qualifying for consecutive Europa League knockout stages, Rösler has now taken on his first role in Germany.
The early signs are encouraging. Fortuna put in a strong showing against Frankfurt last week – leading 1-0 until a 93rd-minute, VAR-assisted Eintracht equaliser denied them the win that their performance deserved. Rösler’s teams have historically been built on strong pressing, and this was in evidence throughout Sunday’s game. As Rösler threw his water bottle at the turf after the equalising goal was given, he will have been ruing the host of missed chances that his side’s Gegenpressing had yielded.
In a rare ‘English week’ for German clubs, with midweek cup ties on top of their usual league fixtures at the weekend, Hennings and co. then served up a thrilling 5-2 win over Kaiserslautern on Wednesday. With decisive early substitutions helping to overturn a 2-1 deficit, Rösler has suddenly catapulted his team into their first cup quarter-final in nearly 25 years.
With an “unbelievably strong” squad, Rösler is optimistic that the Rhineland team can climb their way out of trouble. Their next assignment – a trip to Wolfsburg – is certainly not the formidable prospect it was a few years ago, but no pushover either. A good early chance to see just how far Rösler might be able to take his new team. And what songs Fortuna fans might be singing about him by the end of the season.
Gegenpress 