Fnatic’s loss to Natus Vincere in the
LEC playoffs on Monday, February 16, appears to have acted as a catalyst, exposing deep internal tensions within the British organization. In an interview with the Spanish outlet
Esportmaniacos, the club’s head coach, Fabian "
GrabbZ" Lohmann, painted an alarming picture of the team’s working conditions, criticizing a clear lack of resources and even citing unfulfilled commitments from management. As proof of his frustration, he went as far as saying, “
Put
it in the video if you want; I don't care; that’s how it is.”
“It wasn’t what I was promised, but here we are,” Grabbz explained to Esportmaniacos. The Fnatic head coach revealed this detail when asked by the journalist about the absence of his assistant coach, Pablo “Gaax” Pérez, during Week 3. Gaax, who was ill and therefore unable to be at the office, left Grabbz as the only member of the coaching staff preparing for three days of LEC competition: “That week I was alone; I was the only coaching staff in the office. Our psychologist was also there, but he doesn't intervene in what happens in-game.” Overwhelmed and clearly frustrated, Grabbz initially said he “doesn’t want to comment on this topic,” but ultimately continued: “We have no staff. That’s just how it is.”
A “low-resource team”
Grabbz went on to highlight further issues, pointing to a breakdown of trust with management regarding the human resources that were supposed to be available when he signed. “It was not my intention to start the season with only two assistants,” he explained, including performance coach “Immanuelity” before reiterating that “it wasn’t what I was promised, but here we are.” Final words that seem to signal deeper structural concerns.
Further evidence of the challenges Fnatic is facing, Grabbz even described his current project as a “low-resource team.” He illustrated this by explaining what he now asks of his players: “We try to have everyone do a bit more than usual. I ask the players that instead of playing one more SoloQ game, they go watch a Gen.G or HLE VOD and try to see something that catches their attention.”
Not an excuse for Grabbz
He admitted that he has to push them in that direction, stating that “they need to be guided to work more efficiently.” The players, he noted, are more accustomed to jumping straight into “SoloQ or doing a stream” after finishing scrims. He continued by saying that “there is no other person to do those tasks for us,” referring to reviews, draft discussions, and scouting, meaning that “everyone on this team has to do a bit more than the rest.”
He nevertheless sought to reassure the club’s fans, emphasizing that “their work ethic is very good.” Despite the poor results and what he described as a “losing streak,” Grabbz said that “the atmosphere remains quite good. Everyone wants to improve. Although there are only eight people in the office, five of whom are players, we all try to improve day by day.” He also stressed that this should not be seen “as an excuse because our form is terrible, and it's hard to get out of this hole because to do so, you have to win.”
After this 2-0 loss in the upper bracket, Fnatic will face Team Vitality in a decisive lower bracket match this Saturday, the 21st, in hopes of keeping their
LEC playoff run alive.
Edit: Corrected a mistake in Grabbz’s full name.
