1. FC Cologne
Kwasniok allows newcomers to fidget
01.10.2025 – 8:09 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
Three new additions to the 1st FC Köln still have to be patient. Even if head coach Lukas Kwasniok promises a lot from them.
When the 1st FC Köln meets TSG Hoffenheim on Friday evening, two teams play against each other who put the greatest upheavals in their squads in summer. Both clubs have given a total of 17 players each. 17 players were added to the TSG, at FC 14.
Nevertheless, both teams with seven points each started the league well despite the heavy opening programs. Before the game, the coach of the billy goats made no secret of the fact that FC has long since not everything runs smoothly. “The truth is that I am still looking for the perfect balance over 90 minutes,” said the 44-year-old. The reason: the players, but also the coaching team, have to get to know each other even better.
“Who harmonizes with whom? Who can best conceal the weaknesses of their colleague? Who can best bring the strengths of the colleague to the fore?”, Kwasniok described important questions that he cannot yet answer completely. “This is a process, especially if you have only played five games together.” This is also why some newcomers have to be patient, while others have already started.
Alessio Castro-Montes was the last new addition of the billy goats-he only came on the Deadline Day-everything at FC. A lightning debut in his first game in Wolfsburg, then just a week later the non-nomination for the squad and finally a game over 90 minutes on the bench. “There is a lot of Monti. He is an inverse player on both outer lanes,” Kwasniok now praised. “But I made a mistake that I thrown it into Wolfsburg. I overloaded him in the overall constellation.”
So Kwasniok had to protect his player a little recently to slowly introduce him to the team. After the first training impressions, he was “immediately fire and flame”. “He came, did his first training session and we thought we have signed a mixture of Neymar and Messi. That was amazing,” said Kwasniok. But now he is also constantly showing “an enormous wit” in training. So it should only be a matter of time before the Belgian gets another chance.