New Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach Alexander Blessin discussed everything from his passion for gardening to his occasionally combustible touchline temperament during Wednesday’s introductory press conference. The 53-year-old also reflected on his departure from St. Pauli and acknowledged the considerable challenge awaiting him at his new Bundesliga club.
As GGFN reported on Tuesday, Blessin has signed a contract through 2028 and succeeds Eugen Polanski following Gladbach’s disastrous start to the 2026/27 campaign. The Foals enter the international break bottom of the Bundesliga table after four consecutive defeats, having conceded 16 goals.
Blessin takes over a team urgently requiring defensive stability and renewed confidence. Sporting director Rouven Schröder will hope the Stuttgart native can reproduce some of the qualities that characterised his first season at St. Pauli, during which he constructed the Bundesliga’s second-best defence and secured top-flight survival.
Alexander Blessin reflects on St. Pauli and the lessons learned
Blessin’s two seasons at St. Pauli produced sharply contrasting outcomes. After successfully keeping the Hamburg outfit in the Bundesliga in 2024/25, he initially appeared capable of building upon that achievement. As documented in GGFN’s September 2025 St. Pauli tactical analysis, Blessin’s team collected seven points from their opening three league fixtures and appeared to have significantly improved their attacking output.
A subsequent nine-match losing streak nevertheless plunged the club into another relegation battle. Despite briefly recovering in February and March, St. Pauli ultimately finished bottom of the Bundesliga. Blessin departed after his team collected just two points from their final eight matches. The former St. Pauli coach nevertheless spoke warmly about his experiences in Hamburg during Wednesday’s introductory press conference.
“It was a nice time,” Blessin explained. “I take a lot of positives from my time at St. Pauli. It helped me develop as a coach. One never stops learning as a coach. There were plenty of times when I wasn’t exactly ‘Mr. Know-it-All’, but one always learns from certain situations. It was a wonderful time with a great club. I’m happy to be taking on this new challenge after a brief break.”
Gladbach’s new coach discusses gardening and controlling his emotions
Blessin also provided some amusing insights into his personality when asked about one of his favourite pastimes. A reporter wanted to know whether the new Gladbach coach had already purchased a house with a lawn that he could mow.
“I can’t believe I now have a lawn reporter,” Blessin responded. “I like gardening and I’ve fallen back on it a lot lately as a way of clearing my head. I find it calms me down and steers me towards positive thoughts.”
The discussion subsequently turned to Blessin’s notoriously animated behaviour on the touchline. The coach acknowledged that he has learned to control his emotions somewhat better with age, even if he has no intention of fundamentally changing his approach to the profession.
“I do believe that one calms down a bit with age,” Blessin continued. “But emotions still reside within me and I want to live them. That’s the way it must be in the profession of coaching. I’m not the type who sits on the coaching bench and simply observes everything. I want to help and be active. Sometimes, that wasn’t to the liking of the referees [last season]. [I’ve learned] that you need to hold back every now and then.”
Blessin’s occasionally heated relationship with match officials will be familiar to those who followed his final season at St. Pauli. As GGFN reported following the club’s March defeat against Freiburg, the coach apologised after accusing his team of having played against 12 men and criticising referee Florian Badstübner’s behaviour.
Wednesday’s press conference revealed that Blessin has already experimented with some rather unconventional methods of managing his emotions.
“Last year, I tried heading over to the water bottle and taking a [calming swig],” Blessin explained. “Because whenever I’m drinking, I can’t be yelling. That’s the way I ultimately keep quiet.”
Blessin responds to criticism surrounding Borussia Mönchengladbach
The new Gladbach coach also addressed the considerably more serious questions surrounding his appointment. Borussia’s opening four matches have exposed significant defensive deficiencies. Polanski’s dismissal followed a 5-0 defeat against Freiburg, while interim successor Jan-Moritz Lichte subsequently oversaw a 4-3 home loss against Mainz.
As GGFN examined following the Mainz defeat, Lichte’s decision to abandon the back-four system established during preseason produced some encouraging attacking developments without solving the team’s defensive problems. Blessin must now decide which elements of Gladbach’s summer reconstruction are worth retaining. The new coach will have the international break to begin implementing his ideas before making his competitive debut in the Rhine derby against Köln on October 11.
Recent criticism of Gladbach from prominent former players and pundits such as Lothar Matthäus and Mario Basler, was another subject raised during Wednesday’s press conference. Blessin nevertheless made clear that he was under no illusions about the responsibility he had accepted.
“As I said at the beginning [of the press conference], I’m approaching this task with humility,” Blessin explained. “Because I know what a force this club and its fans are. Of course I’ve given it some thought, but I still want to take on this responsibility.”
“It’s my intention, together with the lads, to pull us out of this shitty time,” Blessin continued. “I’ll always have great respect for the likes of Lothar Matthäus and Mario Basler. I listen. I accept it. Whatever. It’s our job to shift the momentum in the right direction.”
