The coach of Dynamo Dresden will continue to be Alexander Schmidt The Saxons announced on Sunday that they would continue with the 53-year-old despite his current plight.
“We are convinced that ‘Alex’ and his team are still the right coaching team for our path and that with them we will achieve our big goal of staying in the league. They have our full backing to consistently demand things so that we can reach the next level,” said Ralf Becker, Dynamo Dresden’s managing director of sport.
Immediately after the defeat in the basement duel at Holstein Kiel, Becker had avoided a clear commitment to Schmidt and instead announced an “uncomfortable “ bus ride back home. The 1:2 at the Förde was Dynamo’s sixth consecutive defeat in a must-win match, and Dresden have conceded a total of nine defeats in their last ten competitive matches, winning only against Werder Bremen (3:0). “After the defeats against Sandhausen and Kiel, it was now time not to go back to business as usual, but to work through the current situation intensively in different rounds and with different people – and to make fundamental decisions in order to tackle the next weeks together with full force,” said Becker.
After a strong start, the curve points steeply downwards
Schmidt took over as Dynamo coach from the previously sacked Markus Kauczinski in April and led the Saxons to promotion with five wins in the final six games. The start to the second division season 21/22 was also successful, with Dresden picking up a whopping ten points from the first four games and finishing second in the table. Since then, things have gone steeply downhill, but Schmidt is still expected to lead Dynamo back to success.
Becker also took the team to task (“Every player is required to develop and adapt to the new level”), but also referred to the bad luck with injuries that was a constant guest for the Saxons in the first third of the season. Becker particularly longs for the imminent return of the trio of Brandon Borrello, Kevin Ehlers and Patrick Weihrauch: “Basically, they are three newcomers who will increasingly get involved after the international phase and immediately bring the combined experience of 144 second division games to the pitch.” That’s why Becker still believes he can achieve the season’s goal of staying in the league: “Even if the last few weeks weren’t good, we’re still on target overall.
