Felix Magath talked himself into a rage.
He left no doubt as to who he sees in charge at Hertha after a disappointing defeat and a week before the city derby.
"You put yourself in this situation, it wasn't me," Magath called out to his pros on the training ground the morning after the 2-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen.
"You have to get yourself out of there, too," demanded the Hertha head coach, who became louder and louder during his speech.
With a view to the derby against city rivals Union next Saturday (6.30 p.m./in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) and the subsequent games against three competitors in the relegation battle, Magath said: "Grab this opportunity!"
A large part of the good mood after the 3-0 win against Hoffenheim at the Magath opener has already evaporated in the Westend.
For the time being, the Berliners fell back to a direct relegation zone, in the final sprint they are still up against direct competition from Bielefeld, Stuttgart and Augsburg.
Virtues in the struggle for existence
After nine and a half years, Magath, who had coached his first game from home due to a corona infection, was back on the coaching bench in the Bundesliga.
He had to realize in Leverkusen that his team hadn't yet embraced the virtues of fighting for existence.
Bayer professional Robert Andrich, who played for the Berliners for nine years, also recognized this.
"If they play like today, it will be very, very difficult.
They didn't do much for the game.
In my opinion you have to scratch and bite and not just fall down all the time,” said the Leverkusen midfielder.
The fact that a Magath team lacks aggressiveness and fighting spirit is probably what annoys the 68-year-old coach the most.
"I thought it was clear to everyone that we had to get through the fight," said Magath, who had previously prepared his team for the upcoming tasks at the training camp in East Westphalia.
"The team wanted to, but we took the wrong approach.
Instead of playing along, we should have put in more effort,” said Magath.