The German champions from Dresden are threatened with an early end
The Dresden Monarchs cannot cover up their personnel problems. The football champion is going into the summer break with a heavy mortgage.
– The white-clad Potsdamer were mostly on top – and are in the form of the title favorites. Apparently not Dresden.
© kairospress
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Dresden. After the defeat in the blistering heat, the Dresden Monarchs footballers face a very bleak scenario. On Saturday, the German champions said goodbye to a three-week summer break with their fourth defeat of the season. In front of almost 1,500 spectators in the stadium on Bärnsdorfer Straße, the hosts had to admit defeat against the Potsdam Royals by 21:36 (14:23) at just over 30 degrees Celsius.
Now more than ever, the Monarchs have to worry about qualifying for the playoffs. The four best teams from the north and south squadrons of the two-pronged German Football League (GFL) move into this. The Dresdeners are fifth in the northern relay, but are already four points behind with 4:8 points. And after the summer break there are only four games left in the normal round.
The hitherto unbeaten Saturday opponent from the Brandenburg state capital is one of the favorites for the title this season. “Potsdam is a super good team, they do a lot of things right, we make too many mistakes,” says Monarchs coach Ulrich Däuber, stating: “We don’t train with the people who play. And we don’t play with players who train. That’s our big problem.” He’s referring to his team’s never-ending series of injuries.
The Monarchs’ bad luck with injuries continues
21 players – a third of the entire first division squad – were injured before the game against Potsdam. During the game, running back Yazan Nassar and especially quarterback Justin Agner were added. How hard it hit the playmaker is open, it said afterwards.
Däuber sees it as a good sign that the defending champion, who is suffering from a weaker team, has come very close to all defeats so far despite these personnel worries. “The boys don’t let their heads hang down, but they’re still there. We can’t weed out the little things that make a game this year. We don’t have the people for that at the moment, but Potsdam does,” he says.
“Our series of injuries is well known, of course there comes a point at which you would normally rotate more. But we can’t do that,” emphasizes Daniel Stechbarth, one of the top performers in the defensive formation.
First of all, the team, especially the players who are not so badly injured, should regenerate in a two-week rest phase. Däuber assumes that three quarters of the injured could be available again at the end of July. “The boys have to get well, clear their heads, calm down a bit. Then we come back and get to work,” says the Würzburg native.
The Monarchs now need to win all four games
It is clear that the Monarchs must not lose any of the four remaining games against Düsseldorf (8th), the Berlin Rebels (6th), Braunschweig (2nd) and the Berlin Adler (3rd) in order to still achieve the minimum play-off goal reach. “We have to win all four games, then we still have our place in the play-offs in our own hands. That’s realistic,” estimates the trainer, who is now going on a week-long bike tour with his son along the Baltic Sea.
“The summer break generally comes at the right time because many of us are simply stricken. That helps, of course,” says Stechbarth. In any case, he warns against comparing the championship season of the previous year with the current season. “Too much personnel changes every year for that. But the hope is unbroken that we can bring our consistency to the field after the break and just play Monarchs football for 48 minutes and not just 30 minutes,” says the experienced defense player.
Despite the four defeats, the atmosphere in the team is good. “Of course it’s annoying when you can’t take the win with you. But we’re not going to have breakfast. So football is still fun and the team is cool,” affirms Stechbarth. He doesn’t want to think about the imminent early end of the season. “It would be a disappointment. But we’re playing one game after the other now,” says Stechbarth.
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