Virkus: “We have to have a broader set-up to improve”

Managing director for sport Roland Virkus spoke about Borussia’s new head coach Gerardo Seoane, the introduction of Nils Schmadtke as first-team sporting director and the further changes in the club.

Roland Virkus on…

…the new head coach Gerardo Seoane: Gerardo stands for a structured and well organised, but also adaptable, style of play, which he proved in Luzern, Bern and Leverkusen. In our initial talks it quickly became clear that we have similar ideas about the football that Borussia should play. In terms of the football, it fits the journey that we started upon a year ago. We were also absolutely convinced by Gerardo’s personality. He’s an open guy who brings everyone along with him.

…the decision to hire a new first-team sporting director: The work in the position of managing director of sport is becoming more and more complex, in fact too complex for one person. In addition to managing the entire area of football, squad planning and transfers, and also communicating with coaches and players, public relations is also a major area of responsibility. To be able to manage all these areas 100 percent, we have recognised for some time that we have to position ourselves more broadly. We have created a position that is an important direct contact for the head coach, but also for the players and staff, as well as for me. The first-team sporting director is in charge of the professional players. He will be close to the team and head coach in the future, not only during training sessions but also on matchdays.

…Nils Schmadtke: We’ve found a fitting candidate for this new position in Nils Schmadtke. He is well connected in this area due to his previous role as chief scout at VfL Wolfsburg. He knows the business and he also knows Borussia and the structure of the club from his early work in scouting.

…changes in the scouting area: We have already implemented the first changes here. Our previous scouting coordinator Mario Vossen will be even more involved in the management of transfers. This will free up time for our scouting director Steffen Korell and me to deal with squad planning. Through targeted work in our network, we want to be able to come to even faster decisions.

…the analysis of the past season: We already announced this a few weeks ago: Our analysis should not only be about the position of head coach. It was about everything, about direct, measureable sporting success, but it was also about questioning procedures and possibly optimising processes that have been in place for a long time, in order to bring out the team’s full potential. It was about the players, but also the team working behind them.

…Dr. Philipp Schützendorf, the new “head of development”: This position is based on the position of a transition coach, which has been vacant since Eugen Polanski became our U23’s coach a year ago. In Philipp Schützendorf, who has been with Borussia for a long time, we were able to find a very good internal solution. Philipp has been in charge of the team’s match analysis for several years and has worked closely with our last head coaches. He is the right man to take care of developing talent and individuals, also because he knows exactly the kind of football we want to play here.

…these decisions as a whole: As we look back on the season, we have of course thought far beyond the final standings and the way our team plays, and we haven’t just done so in the last few days, we have been watching over the whole season. One of the biggest problems in recent years has been the lack of stability of the team. That’s why we are convinced that we needed to take further measures beyond changing the head coach. We are in a good position, but we see the potential for optimisation. We have identified where we are lacking in the professional squad and will hopefully be able to add the missing skills in the coming transfer window. We also want to exploit every opportunity to improve the performance culture and are therefore changing our structure. These are decisions that we hope will give us new impetus and enable us to get a better performance out of the players. Overall, we want to further improve the framework here. We are aware that this is a lot of decisions at once, and it will be a challenge, but it will be a challenge with a real chance for a new approach.