Seven wins, one draw – and only one defeat: that is the impressive starting record of the current leaders of the Second Bundesliga. But who would have expected before the start of the season that it would be the almost completely rebuilt SV Elversberg? But despite the last 6-0 home win against Greuther Fürth, the new coach – Vincent Wagner – is not completely satisfied.
“Content: good, minus,” was SVE coach Vincent Wagner’s grade for his team immediately after 6-0 home win against Greuther Fürth. On Sunday evening in the SR sports arena the former German and history teacher corrected himself a little upwards.
“After watching a few scenes again – there were a lot of good things there – I would give it a straight B. In terms of results and efficiency, it was of course an A plus.”
Two model students particularly stood out on this Sunday afternoon. Goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof, who kept a clean sheet in his third competitive game in a row, and striker Younes Ebnoutalib. The 21-year-old scored his first second division hat-trick against Fürth – after previously scoring twice twice. In total, the Frankfurt native has nine goals after nine games.
Ebnoutalib: Wagner’s star student
“When I score a goal, I suddenly have such an eagerness to score the next one,” said Ebnoutalib, who now leads the top scorer table in the second division againafter the end of the game on the sports show microphone. Last season he was on the field for FC Gießen in the regional league – and thus as an opponent of his current coach.
At that time, Wagner was still the main trainer at TSG Hoffenheim II and had already had his eye on the talented striker. “I wanted to bring him to Hoffenheim back then,” admitted Wagner. In the winter, Ebnoutalib decided to move to SV Elversberg – Wagner followed six months later.
SV Elversberg coach Wagner: “High standards for ourselves”
The fact that the Elversberg coach didn’t want to give his team the best grade despite a clean slate, Ebnoutalib’s hat trick and six goals scored shows the demands of the small Saarland football village. “We set ourselves a high standard,” said Wagner, who taught at the Leibniz-Gymnasium in Essen before his coaching career.
Despite the convincing performance against Fürth for a long time, Wagner was not satisfied with everything his team brought to the pitch. “If you’re leading 3-0 or 4-0 and still have to put in a lot of effort, you’re not doing everything right as a team,” complained the 39-year-old.
He would like his team to run the ball even better in such situations and therefore have to run less. At the end of the game, Elversberg had 48 percent possession.
SV Elversberg – a team without weaknesses?
Overall, the SVE dominated the Fürther Kleeblatt in all positions. Starting with goalkeeper Nicolas Kristof, who was only challenged once shortly after the break but once again demonstrated his strong early form and secured his team’s 2-0 lead with a triple save.
The Full-back Lasse Günther and Felix Keidel impressed with a lot of running work – with and without the ball. Defensively there was almost no getting past, offensively their crosses repeatedly caused danger. In the end, both were able to reward themselves with assists – Günther from the left flat to Bambasé Conté (27th), who was waiting at the penalty spot, to make it 1-0, Keidel from the right also flat, sharp and precise to Ebnoutalib (80th), who was lurking at the second post, who scored a flawless hat trick with his goal to make it 4-0.
Convinced in the center Amara Conde and HSV loan Lukasz Poreba with a lot of ball conquests, orchestrated the pressing, reported Fürth’s captain and playmaker Branimir Hrgota almost completely and served the fast Conté, Petkov and Zimmerschied in front of them with quick passes into the interfaces. Fürth was only present in the initial phase and shortly after the break, but it was broken after conceding a goal to make it 3-0.
The goals to make it 5-0 by late substitute Jason Ceka (85th) and the 6-0 final score in added time by central defender Florian Le Joncour (90th + 3) made the overall result a bit too high.
Goal: Relegation
As before the international break, at 4-0 win in MagdeburgSV Elversberg looks like a team without any specific weaknesses. “We want to play good, holistic football,” says Vincent Wagner about the Elversberg playing facility. The coach relies on a lot of video analysis, in groups or individually with his players. “I have an incredibly smart team,” enthuses Wagner.
Nevertheless, the goal for the season is still a humble one: “We still need 18 points to stay in the league. That’s the first big goal,” said the SVE coach.
If SV Elversberg continues to march at this pace, the 40-point mark could even be reached before the start of the second half of the season. Even if a tough program awaits the league leaders in the coming days and weeks: “Only teams from above are coming. Bielefeld, then in Berlin. [DFB-Pokal, Anm. d. Red.] Then only three days until Hanover. This will be very difficult for us.”
SVE wants march on
In its current form, the Saarlanders don’t have to fear any comparison. A drop in tension is also not foreseeable, if you believe captain Lukas Pinckert, who is currently still ailing. He says of his coach: “He can also become very unpleasant if something doesn’t suit him on the pitch.”
Wagner confirms this. “I am definitely much louder than Horst was,” is his personal comparison with his predecessor Horst Steffen. who moved to Bundesliga club Werder Bremen in the summer. What bothers Wagner most is, “If you don’t march, if you let up, then that’s bad for us as a troop.”
So SV Elversberg will march on – initially at the top, at the top of the second Bundesliga. Next weekend Wagner’s students are going up to the Bielefeld Alm. The next test in which the literal football teacher Vincent Wagner will certainly look critically at his players’ grades again.
A topic also in the “sportarena” on SR TV on October 19th, 2025.
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