This week on The Bundesliga Show, Terry Duffelen and Jon Hartley, talk about the big issues of Matchday 13 in the Bundesliga. It was a mixed weekend of emotions in the Bundesliga...sadness at the news of Referee Babak Rafati tried to take his own life before Cologne's game with Hannover.
Also in the show, author and journalist Uli Hesse talks about the big match of the week between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
The Bundesliga Show Episode 42 - A mixed weekend of sadness and joy in the Bundesliga by soundoffootball
Showing posts with label Hannover 96. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hannover 96. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Monday, 7 November 2011
Robert Enke: ‘A Life too Short’
One of the greatest tragedies in the Bundesliga in recent times was the death of Hannover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke. Kyle Barber writes a review of Ronald Reng's book about the troubled German international.
November 10th, 2011 marks the two-year anniversary of Robert Enke's decision to take his own life. At approximately 6.15pm, the affable German international stepped in front of the Bremen regional express in the village of Eilvese. He was just 32, and left an adoptive child, devoted wife, and close circle of friends behind; consigned to an overwhelming void of emptiness. Within sight of that two-year mark, Enke's story has finally been translated into English, courtesy of the eloquence of one of his inner circle – Ronald Reng. Through Yellow Jersey Press, 'A Life too Short' is a sombre, reflective accomplishment of the spiralling tragedy that was Robert Enke. While many people know something about the man, few will be fully aware of his life, career, and nuances of his story, much less the taboo of depression that has, since his passing, been far more widely embraced and addressed by German football, and German sport.
In terms of his professional career, Enke was reaching his peak. He was established as the Nationalmannschaft number one – with eight caps and a seemingly nailed-on spot for the following year’s World Cup, was Club Captain at Hannover 96 (with almost 200 appearances behind him), and had been voted best goalkeeper for the 2008-09 Bundesliga season in what would be his last. He had had a successful three-year spell with Benfica, and been coveted by Europe’s elite – even receiving a call from Sir Alex Ferguson in 2002. He looked to have overcome an ill-fated season at Barcelona, and the decision to renege on a contract with Fenerbaçhe.
Personally, he was wed to his soulmate and teenage sweetheart – Teresa, had a healthy, well-natured adoptive daughter – Leila, a close-knit circle of friends, and was well-liked and respected by his peers and community. He had overcome the death of his first child – Lara (who suffered with a degenerative heart defect from birth), and seemed content; even happy to those who thought they knew him. Those who truly knew him knew differently.
So much of Enke’s life was regimented – even truncated – in nature; from his methodical precision to detail when it came to his gloves – two dozen pairs, with foam 7mm in thickness (1mm more than the norm), and the thumb seam on the outside to improve feel – through to the dates which book-ended his career and life – debuting on November 11th, 1995 against, of all teams, Hannover 96. Routine is certainly far from being an alien concept in any way, shape, or form for an elite athlete. But the interspersion of heartbreak he endured served in encouraging an introspection that darkened both him and his outlook on life.
Through his personal relationship with Enke, Reng is able to offer a deeper, less evasive profile. Dipping beneath the veiled façade of both the stereotypical ‘professional footballer’, and that masqueraded by the man himself. He chronicles how Enke’s depression was both realised and yet controlled through regimen, though effused with an inherent love and care that the ‘keeper had to give – “At home, Robert cleaned his gloves with shampoo under the shower, laid them out to dry and stroked smooth the soft foam of their surface”, a routine he repeated after every game; win, lose, or draw.
Ronald Reng himself is a multi-award winning author, and the effortless fluidity of his style is exceptionally reinforced throughout this text by a language that is both foreshortened and succinct. In-keeping with this approach, Reng is able to offer a portrayal that is not only vivid and true, but also helps encapsulate Enke’s mindset, and the micro-orbit in which he found himself constricted. It was that perception that manifested from around the age of 19, when he began harbouring the paradoxical fears of anonymity and of disappointing those around him. It was that dual spectre that would weigh on the East German’s broad shoulders for the best part of 14 years; his anxieties manifesting as depression – his Black Dog. Enke, though, became expert at using a tool pivotal to the cycle of depression. He became adept at presenting a serene front, a projected calm that betrayed his inner struggle. That illusion was unwittingly captured by his coach at Benfica – and now Head Coach at Bayern, the illustrious Jupp Heynckes – who described him as “calm, serenity, equilibrium, class”. At no point during the book does Reng ask that we sympathise with Enke. Nor does he seek to elicit empathy. Rather, and more credibly, he serves to present the man outside of the emotion, preferring to allow that feeling to infuse chapter and page.
“It’s the goalkeeper’s torture – the constant demand on him not to make a single mistake….a goalkeeper must be able to repress things”: such is the cross which the final line of any team’s defence must bear. Yet Enke’s interpretation of this expectation led him inextricably to a degree of self-reproach and self-deprecation that was the harbinger for his disease to fester and grow. Enke developed a self-perception and mindset that meant he would distort events in a way that would always vindicate the subservience he felt. As Reng charts, Enke – from the age of 17 – had a “life divided in two” between professional football and everyday life. And it was that separation that leant well to the inherent kindness and tenderness that he repressed as a sportsman, but exuded as a human being (he would write poetry for Teresa; something wonderfully encapsulated by Reng to supplement the descent he captures, as we are taken from the buoyancy of a birthday prose, to the admission of how “he no longer felt the joy…the contentment that comes from writing down one’s thoughts” to annotate the burgeoning numbness that gradually overcame him). In the early years of his career, he was able to switch off, to compartmentalise the alternative aspects of his life without detriment to either branch. However, as the toils of trying to establish himself as meriting a squad place in his own right began to wear him down physically and mentally – coupled with the sense of isolation he felt through living away from everything he knew and loved – that balance shifted. Not in a tangible way, but in the psyche of a young man desperate to please, and to drink in all that he saw; Enke spent hours aping the mannerisms and techniques of the likes of Oliver Kahn, Edwin van der Sar, Uwe Kamps. In truth, nobody had higher expectations of, or put greater pressure on him than he did. And the lack of release, of escapism, began to blinker his outlook as he started to become his own prisoner.
Reng was granted access to Enke’s diaries – they were to pen an autobiography together – by his widow, Teresa. And the use of Enke’s own words to animate the apparently inherent inner demons he suppressed is morbidly fascinating and well-pitched in its progression through the 390-page text:
11.08.2003
“I feel helpless and anxious, I’m afraid of people’s eyes”
16.01.2004
“At the moment I am happy and content. We had a really lovely New Year’s Eve…I laughed and danced – incredible!”
29.04.2009
“Leila entered our life….She is a ray of sunshine, and there was a sense of intimacy straight away!”
05.08.2009
“At the moment it’s incredibly hard to be positive. It hit me quite quickly and unexpectedly…need to open up. I know myself that it’s impossible.”
03.09.2009
“Didn’t sleep. Everything seems pointless. Thinking about S.”
02.11.2009
“Nothing but self-reproach.”
The fact that Reng opted to omit certain parts of that serialisation is testament to the strength of their friendship, his commitment to Robert’s memory, and in understandable deference to the emotions of his family. That he is still able to present an evocative, emotive reflection of a man lost in his own existence is credit to him. And it is with a sense of overt reticence that Reng prefaces his text by saying “Today I know why the [idea of writing a] biography was so close to his heart….he would finally be able to talk about his illness….Robert summoned up a huge amount of strength to keep his depression secret. He locked himself away in his illness”.
“His internal film ran incessantly….There was no final whistle for him”
12 months ago, over 45,000 people attended a memorial service to one of German football’s most reserved, self-effacing and yet undoubtedly talented individuals as a nation collectively mourned. Today, the DFB, German football, and German sport in general, is amongst those most clearly attempting to embrace and address the taboos of depression. In penning ‘A Life Too Short’, and making it accessible to an English-speaking audience, Ronald Reng has dutifully honoured the memory and passing of his close friend with an air of sober eloquence and intuitive positivity. In doing so, he acutely captures the essence of how Enke lost himself to depression, forever trapped by a moribund sense of insufficiency and futility that he alone lived. This year, on November 10th, lend a moment of contemplation to the memory of a man who will forever be 32; who will forever be tormented; and who left a deep, reverent hole in the lives of so many. And – as Reng counsels – consider that, irrespective of what standing someone may have, or the subjective image they may portray: “Most depressives who attempt suicide don’t want to die, they just want the darkness that defines their thoughts to disappear once and for all”. Do not judge without consideration nor, in the Words of Guardian journalist Amy Lawrence, be so quick to castigate without pausing to wonder. Depression is an area of taboo equivalent to those of racism and homophobia when it comes to elite sport, and is swept under the carpet all too readily.
But such is one of the facets of the disease of depression that it carries an element of Stockholm Syndrome about it too; with the prisoner harbouring a tacit comfort from the confines it devises for them. It can be seen as lending a security blanket through routine and fear of change. Enke thought, as most depressives do, that openly admitting to having a problem would be seen as a sign of weakness. That feeling was exacerbated by the cutthroat bubble of elite sport and, most likely, not too far from the sad reality at that time. What his death has done (‘achieved’ would seem too morbid a term to use) is open – just a little – the doorway for acceptance in today’s world. This weekend, the German National side take on Ukraine in a friendly. The players in that team will afford themselves a moment of contemplation in homage to the memory of their lost compatriot, and the whole of football should be encouraged to do likewise.
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Profile - Mirko Slomka
However, football club management can take its toll and Slomka has been through a lot in his managerial career, hence the grey locks and emerging worry lines.
Not that the Hildeheim born Slomka seems worried by his lack of poster boy status. In fact, his somewhat reserved, off the pitch, profile seems consistent with his approach to football. When asked by Sport 1 why he was not as celebrated as other coaches he replied. "I think it's a good thing... The team has no star, we act as a collective. The same counts for me as the coach." The sense of collective spirit is a key motivator, especially for clubs competing with limited resources and can act as a shield for the coach when the pressure is on and fans are calling for change.
After a modest career as a player, Slomka began his coaching career at Hannover in charge of the Under 19s. After a brief sojourn to Tennis Borussia Berlin he returned to Hannover as assistant to Ralf Rangnick in 2001. Slomka was at Rangnick’s right hand through the teams promotion to the First Bundesliga and subsequent survival in the division. When the call came from Gelsenkirchen for Rangnick to have a crack at bringing the Salad Bowl to Schalke, Slomka joined him. When Rangnick left, Slonka succeeded him and embarked upon a journey that took the Konigsblauen to Champions League glory and to the very brink of success, domestically.
In his first full season in charge (2006/07) Schalke narrowly lost the title to Stuttgart. A heart wrenching 2-0 defeat to their hated rivals Borussia Dortmund played a significant role in their downfall. However, the following season Schalke finished in the quarter final of the Champions League after seeing off Porto in the Round of Sixteen. But, the Bundesliga trophy eluded Slomka and inevitably he was given his cards in April 2008.
Perhaps damaged, reputationally, Slomka did not return to work until nearly two years later and it was to his local club, his first club: Hannover 96. However, his return was at a time when the club was deep in crisis.
A dreadful start to the 2009/10 season saw off coach, Dieter Hecking. He was replaced by Andreas Bergmann who had been promoted from within. Tragedy struck in November 2009 when goalkeeper Robert Enke took his life. With the club in crisis on the field and grieving off it, Bergamann moved to one side for Slomka to return.
The first win did not arrive until his seventh game in charge and that was down to an own goal by Freiburg’s Pappis Demba Cisse. They won five from their last even games, including a 4-2 thrashing of Slomka’s old team, Schalke and a 6-1 drubbing of Borussia Monchengladbach. Survival was only secured on the last day of the season with a 3-0 win at Bochum which sent the home side down in their stead.
Last season, Slomka has rebuilt Hannover and his reputation, steering his charges to a magnificent fourth place in the Bundesliga and only their second appearance in the Europa League.
Tactically Slomka is a pragmatist and not much of a fantasist.. “I’d rather win 2-0 than 7-4” he once told Der Spiegel (after watching his Schalke side beat Leverkusen 7-4). This pragmatism is evident with Hannover 96. A gloriously practical side who play on the break and with pace.
From the back, the former Manchester united Keeper Ron Robert Zieler is giving Sir Alex Ferguson cause to wonder if he may have made a rare mistake in letting the youngster leave Old Trafford. To watch Emanuel Pogatetz in the centre of defense is to watch a very different player to the one who laboured at Middelsbrough, in the Premier League. In the midfield, Konstantin Rausch and Sergio Pinto facilitate that transition of the ball from the back in good order.
Up top, the two front men (separated by injury somewhat this season) Mohamed Abdoulaye and Didier Konan Ya are battering rams with guile. Konan Ya is more obviously skillful but Moa’s directness belies his technique. According to Holger Ruhl (OptaFranz) the Norwegian had one of the best shots to goal ratio in the Bundesliga, last season. While he scored just the ten goals, in the last campaign, he is out of the starting blocks quickly this season. He scored that precious goal in Spain that helped see the 96ers through to the Group stages of the Europa League against a Sevilla side of whom you would have got fairly short odds to win the competition.
Slomka believes that Hannover can and should be a consistent top ten side, likening the club to Mainz or Freiburg in size and stature. Hardly a spectacular ambition but realistic and sensible for a club that has spent much of its recent history worrying about the bottom of the table. However, this season, he has a chance to boost the international profile of his club through the Europa League. This, in turn, may boost his own image, perhaps attracting the interest of bigger clubs and giving him a chance to have a crack at that Salad Bowl, once again.
Friday, 22 April 2011
Profile: Konstantin Rausch
Born in Siberia, the young Rausch moved to Germany with his folks at the age of five. Identified by Hannover at an early age, the young Konstantin made his debut in a 0-0 with Stuttgart in March 2008.
Rausch is one of those flanking players that can easily be labelled as a full back or attacking midfielder. In fact he's played in both positions in the 82 Bundesliga appearances that he's made since that goalless draw just over three years ago.
Pacey and direct, Rausch suits his coach Morko Slomka's style of play to a tee. While he may not hit the heights of a number of his team mates in the German u21s, he brings to the party reliability and no little ability. So far he has chipped in with four assists this season and four goals, the highlight of the season being a smashing strike against Bayern where he played a nice one-two with Jan Schlaudruff from his own corner. Not forgetting his diving header against Hannover in April to cap off an excellent 3-1 away win at Freiburg.
Internationally, his prospects for the National senior team don't seem very good. However, he does of course qualify to play for Russia and although there has been no interest from the Russian Football Association, only from the player. However, with Jog Low watching from the stands at the game against, Freiburg, you never know. A call up to the German National Team may be in the offing.
For more on the Bundesliga from me follow @Bundesbag on Twitter or visit the Football Fairground.
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