Pity is a gift, as the German saying goes. And it is certainly the last thing the Fürth team wants after this 1:7 in Leverkusen, the twelfth defeat in a row. It would also be too harsh and against sporting fairness to speak of a laughing stock. Ultimately, the quality of the cloverleaf is simply not good enough to keep up in the Bundesliga.
The SpVgg must be careful not to burn themselves into the collective memory of football fans in Germany. That would happen at the latest if they were to break all of Tasmania Berlin’s negative records at the end of the season and go down in the annals as the worst Bundesliga team. The Berliners took ten points in 1965/66 – converted to the three-point rule – currently a distant mark for the cloverleaf. The 108 goals conceded are also not unrealistic for Fürth after 17 in the last three games; Stefan Leitl’s squad currently stands at 46. And the away game at Borussia Dortmund is still to come in the first half of the season.
Coach Leitl has been stressing for weeks that he cannot and does not want to implant a new style of play in his team, that stonewalling is not part of the cloverleaf DNA. Nevertheless, he has to make sure he keeps the back line tight. And this will only work if the team is united, as the individual class of the players is not enough. Major deficits in the areas of speed, tackling and quickness of action were also evident in Leverkusen. Leitl will hope for the return of centre-backs Nick Viergever and Gideon Jung, possibly in 2021, but they alone will not be able to make everything better.
Success against Union or Augsburg?
In the remaining three games until the winter break, the main thing is to generate a sense of achievement. Next Sunday, for example, against Union Berlin, who play the decisive game in the Conference League on Thursday evening and may arrive tired. Or on the last day of the first round against FC Augsburg, a far from unbeatable opponent. If they succeed, it would certainly bring appreciative applause from fans across the country, which is always worth more than pity.