Last winter, the European esports scene in League of Legends was in turmoil. After G2 Esports and Fnatic had dominated for years, suddenly other teams moved to the top. The German coach Fabian “Grabbz” Lohmann, who had trained G2 Esports for years, suddenly had to look for a new club. And he is not at all happy with the way his players are behaving.
Where is Grabbz currently coaching?
- Grabbz coached the G2 Esports team from 2017 to November 2021.
- Under his leadership, the team won the LEC multiple times, secured the Mid-Season Invitational 2019, and even achieved 3rd/4th place (2018, 2020) and 2nd place (2019) at the World Championship.
- However, 2021 was a season to forget. The team signed AD carry Rekkles and aimed to build a European super team. But the players did not harmonize and in the end, they didn’t even qualify for the Worlds 2021.
- In November 2021, a major overhaul took place. G2 Esports sold almost all players and also their coach. For the Spring Split 2022, Grabbz took over the BDS team. However, he missed qualification for the playoffs.
- Grabbz openly criticized the mentality of his players in an interview.
“The last few weeks have been difficult due to the reaction of our players”
What does the coach say? In a livestream during the LEC matches on March 4th, there was a live interview with Grabbz. He revealed that he was satisfied with the start of the season. Although there were losses, all matches could have been won.
However, he criticized the mentality of his players in the following weeks. Especially after missing the playoffs, the players reportedly showed little ambition in the matches:
The last few weeks have been difficult, not because of the matches in the LEC, but because of the way my players reacted to missing the playoffs. This is something I need to tackle. We slacked in scrims [practice matches] and wasted two weeks. And as a young team, you cannot afford that.
He further explained that he could calmly speak about this problem publicly because he had already been much tougher on the players internally.
Harsh criticism that many fans can understand
How is Grabbz’s public criticism received? There are some comments that do not appreciate Grabbz’s actions. They believe that such internal team criticism should not be aired publicly.
However, a large majority under the YouTube video and on reddit stand behind Grabbz. They believe that the BDS players did not have a good season. Especially Adam “Adam” Maanane disappointed many. He was regarded as a great talent and reached the Worlds in 2021 with Fnatic.
There was, however, an incident with the German botlaner Upset, who had to leave unexpectedly due to an emergency. The team had to rely on a substitute player. Adam felt betrayed by Fnatic and switched to BDS. However, his performance there hardly convinced anyone.
There are tons of comments under the video and on reddit like:
- “Grabbz really deserves a better team, I hope BDS is ready to invest, because this team was basically, at best, a cheap assembly. Cinkrof and Limit can stay unless there are internal reasons to replace them. Adam, Xmatty and Nuclearint are not delivering. I don’t know if they still need experience.”
- “I feel sorry for Grabbz. Not long ago he was coaching the 2 best midlaners in the West, the best jungler, the best top laner, and the best support. Now he is downgraded to coach of a guy who can only play Darius and has an ego.”
- “Honestly, I feel sorry for Grabbz and Cinkrof because they really put in effort, but are being let down by their team.”
The Spring Split 2022 in the LEC is still ongoing. What will happen next with the BDS team and Grabbz is still unknown. However, they theoretically still have the chance to qualify for the playoffs and the Worlds 2022 in the Summer Split.
There is also a team in the American LCS that is currently disappointing strongly:
LoL: 7-time US champion spent a lot of money in 2022, is now last – Here’s what happened
