Bundesliga

Steffen Baumgart’s lack of knowledge of English affects 1. FC Köln

Published

2 months ago

March 27, 2023

Steffen Baumgart commented on squad planning at 1. FC Köln. The coach revealed why Effzeh almost exclusively looks for players who speak German.

“The reason is the coach,” Baumgart said in an interview with the goat blog: “He only speaks German. My English isn’t good. And I live from what I say and how I say it. That’s why it’s very important to me.”

If there is no other way, the 51-year-old’s assistant coaches have to take action: “René Wagner and Kevin McKenna speak English, so in the end I get it across to everyone, but it should mainly be German.”

In addition to the language, the main thing for him is that potential newcomers really want to move to Cologne.

“You have to want the way we play football every day,” said Baumgart: “If you train like this every day, it hurts. The players also have to have skills that suit our game. You need reasonable speed, toughness and the ability to run.”

Baumgart has been responsible for Effzeh since July 2021. After a strong first season with seventh place, things are going a bit bumpy in the current season. From the last five games, the Cologne team got just one point and are six points ahead of the relegation place in 13th place.

The derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach is on the program on Sunday (3.30 p.m. in LIVETICKER).

Bundesliga: The current table

Place	team	Sp.	Gates	differential	pt.
1.	Borussia Dortmund	25	55:31	24	53
2.	Bayern Munich	25	72:27	45	52
3.	Union Berlin	25	38:28	10	48
4.	Freiburg	25	38:34	4	46
5.	RB Leipzig	25	49:30	19	45
6.	Eintracht Frankfurt	25	46:36	10	40
7.	Wolfsburg	25	44:32	12	38
8th.	Bayer Leverkusen	25	45:40	5	37
9.	Mainz 05	25	40:36	4	37
10	Borussia M’gladbach	25	40:44	-4	31
11.	Werder Bremen	25	39:48	-9	31
12.	augsburg	25	32:45	-13	28
13.	Cologne	25	33:44	-11	27
14	Bochum	25	27:56	-29	25
15	Hoffenheim	25	33:45	-12	22
16	Hertha BSC	25	30:48	-18	21
17	Schalke 04	25	21:45	-24	21
18	Stuttgart	25	29:42	-13	20