1. FC Köln have to work hard, but they also win against Fürth – and take another small step in their development under Steffen Baumgart.
What works in the Bundesliga could also work in big politics. That’s what a few fans of 1. FC Köln thought and packed their humorous idea into beefy chants: Steffen Baumgart becomes Federal Chancellor. The trainer looked a bit crumpled – and countered this joke with advice to the entire fan base.
“Now we’re all coming down a bit,” said Baumgart, he was very satisfied after the 3-1 (0-1) against SpVgg Greuther Fürth, “but we also know where we’re from.” Four months ago the club almost relegated, “we still have a long way to go.”
However, Baumgart is finding it increasingly difficult to slow down the rising mood under the cathedral. Cologne collected twelve points from seven games, which is the best start to the season in five years. At that time, FC under Peter Stöger ultimately qualified for the Europa League, and now he seems to be settling in similar table regions, at least for the time being.
Baumgart does not want to forbid anyone in Cologne to feel euphoric, he repeats that over and over again. Rather, it is more important to avoid satisfaction – because that is the natural enemy of his game idea: football as a martial art, ball and opponent should be hunted for 90 minutes, even if it hurts and the strength is dwindling.
Baumgart still sees potential for improvement at Skhiri
How eagerly Baumgart was looking for the fly in the ointment became clear when he was asked about Ellyes Skhiri. Everyone was raving about the six, who was once again the strongest player this Friday evening and who also scored the FC with two goals (55th / 89th) to victory.
Baumgart stated that the Tunisian “is a player who is still at the beginning” and can learn a lot: “He runs a lot, but sometimes too much, including paths that he doesn’t even have to go.”
The coach also saw, however, that his team had mastered another new task on the still short joint path: FC were the clear favorites for the first time against the winless promoted team, who remained last with one point – but then found almost half time long not to his game.
Fürth deservedly led by Marco Meyerhöfer (7th) and could have gone into the break with a 2-0. It was then important to Baumgart “that we weren’t impressed by that, we continued to pursue our plan.” The second half was much better, Sebastian Andersson (50th) and Skhiri turned the game around.
It’s now into the international break, in which Baumgart’s 100th day will fall as coach of 1. FC Köln. And his first balance sheet turns out to be positive. “Overall, you see me smiling.” Baumgart said without smiling. Only the matter with the Chancellery, which could “wait a little longer”.
