Despite concerns about injuries in defence: no new players are planned
1. FC Cologne’s desire to get through the pre-season without an injury was shattered on Saturday at the latest. Minor incidents did not disrupt operation and staff long-term planning – this no longer applies since Saturday.
Anxiety over many muscle injuries: a trainer won by Steven Baumgart.
IMAGO / Beautiful Sports
One by one, defender Luca Killian and left-back Christian Pedersen are out with serious muscle injuries, and both will be out for six weeks. However, the loss of the duo does not allow the Cologne team to be active in the transfer market. “Now let’s hope that no other defender is injured, otherwise our team will get it right,” says coach Steven Baumgart. Still annoying, “We haven’t had muscle injuries that much,” Baumgart said, adding that the coaching staff should think about it: “There are things you can’t prevent. But there are also things you can influence. . . you don’t always know how and when. You don’t know.” Anything is indicated. We always hope we can control it so well that nothing happens. And now it’s happened three times in a short period of time (Jan Thielmann suffered a hip injury, Dr. Red). It’s annoying for us.”
Skhiri is convinced
Timo Hübers and Jeff Chabot are currently first choice starters for the second half of the season against Werder Bremen. Nicolas Soldo and Elias “Eli” Bakatukanda from Billy Gates’ Under-19 side complete the quartet at centre-back. On Saturday, after the change that became necessary, Elias Skhiri moved to the coverage position and had a great match there. “He’s flawless,” enthused FC idol Tony Schumacher in the stands at the Franz Kremer Stadium. “Ellis is one of those players who don’t really stand out, but you can tell right away when they’re not playing. He’s not great, but he’s incredibly effective. Believe and smart.” But the Tunisian, a participant in the World Cup, is not going to leave his usual sixth place, as before, only to crowd three players among the central defenders and then immediately look for a way to the headquarters.
Baumgart: “The boys have done well”
Ondrej Duda and Mathias Olesen recommended themselves to the attacking section in the 5-0 win against Belgian second-division club Lommel SK. And here’s the veteran Slovakian who painstakingly prepared Beno Schmitz’s introduction. And here is the young Luxemburger, who scored two goals after the break and showed a smart game. Baumgart praised, “The boys did well, but they also qualified: the opponents weren’t a benchmark.” The Belgians, Manchester City’s farm team, disintegrated ahead of time, and it is clear that every player wanted to get out of this case as best they could – at the expense of the team.
Unlike the Cologne team, who introduced well-rehearsed operations in attack and who should not be bothered by the fact that neither Steven Tigues nor Davy Selkie could take any risks. They are both convinced in the areas of existence, fencing and approaches to behaviour. “At some point the knot will pop, and then they will score,” Tony Schumacher is sure. “Davey did what he was supposed to do,” he praised his coach, who said in light of two missed opportunities for a new purchase: “It didn’t happen overnight, he has to have rhythm. But he was in position. And I’ve seen a lot of good attacking moves.” Not just him.”
Baumgart wants to ‘get a Bundesliga player out of Diehl’
U19 player Justin Diehl, who should stay with the pros at least temporarily, has completed his bespoke preparation. Different from other strikers, Diehl is very compact, willing and has a good level of explosiveness both in and in front of the penalty area. On Saturday he set up a goal for Denis Huseinbasic after a deep run and won praise on the open court when he was substituted. “My job is to make him a Bundesliga player,” said Steffen Baumgart after the match. A sentence came out of his mouth like a promise.