Cologne’s coach in an interview
During the long winter break, 1. FC Köln, like several other German clubs, decided to travel abroad. Shortly after the end of the first half of the season, the Domstädter moved to the USA for a week, where a test match against VfB Stuttgart (2:4) was on the agenda. On the day of the game, Transfermarkt sat down with coach Steffen Baumgart at the team hotel in Austin to talk about the trip, the mixed season so far and the squad, among other things.
Before and after the game against VfB, FC spent a few days in Texas, visiting the University of Texas Longhorns’ American football program, the NFL game between the Houston Texans and the Washington Commanders and a visit to the NASA in Houston on the program items. But Baumgart also made time to meet US-based Cologne fans at a local bar. Once again, the 50-year-old was approachable. The coach willingly answered guests’ questions – and showed a side not always typical of professionals in North America. He does it “not just for the club,” said Baumgart. “I just do it because I am who I am. I like talking to people about football. I think it’s important to be open and talk to people about an issue that connects us all. And for the fans it’s interesting. I think it’s only fair to talk to them because some of them have traveled widely and support FC from afar all year round.”
Jonas Hector sets the mood at an Austin bar
_____#effzehUS #BLinUSA #effzeh pic.twitter.com/bmBjMFKSHb— 1. FC Cologne (@fckoeln) November 18, 2022
FC and Baumgart not only left a positive impression, but also took something away for themselves. The trip “can weld a team together,” said the coach. “It’s great to see that the boys do something together here and also have time for team-building measures off the pitch,” he said.
In terms of sport, the native of Rostock was impressed by the infrastructure in the USA. The people of Cologne trained at MLS club FC Austin’s St. David’s Performance Center – a facility that can compete with the best clubs in the top 5 leagues. “We had a lot of good insights,” said Baumgart. In the interview, however, he also points out that not everything he has seen could also be implemented in the Bundesliga. “First of all, we can’t build training centers like this in Germany because we just don’t have the space for it. But there are so many little things that you can adopt, like the way the teams are organized, the environment that a team is in,” he enumerated.
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He continued, “If you look at Austin FC for example, it’s an incredible facility, the way it’s set up and structured, that’s something we can learn from.” that Major League Soccer and soccer in the US are clearly on the up. It would be an “advantage” of the sport that it is so “easy” to play – for men and for women. “It’s always easy to put up two goal posts and just play,” he said.
Baumgart: “Far from saying that we had a bad first half of the season”
If the trip to the USA went well for FC, things have changed for the season so far. After seventh place last season, they are now 13th after 15 match days and eliminated from the group stage of the Conference League. It was Baumgart who called out the relegation battle immediately after the 2-0 loss at Hertha BSC before the winter break. “Everything else is window dressing,” he said. In the US, he said of the first half of the season that “interpretation” was key. One is “far from saying that we had a bad first half of the season.” Looking at the performance in the Conference League and the opponents we were up against, “I’m satisfied with the performance,” stressed Baumgart. “Our squad coupled with the serious absences reflects quite well how competitive we are relative to what we have shown,” he said. At least in terms of market value, the squad increased in the latest update of the Bundesliga, when it went from 90.6 million to currently 97.5 million euros.
For Baumgart, the results of the first half of the season are much more about the big picture. “We can’t say we want to develop something and then all the results have to be perfect,” he stressed. They are “simply not yet at the point where we can demand that we win every game.” Although FC with an average age of 24.9 years is in the upper midfield in a league comparison, Baumgart sees “an inexperienced squad”. “Many players in our squad have never played at the level they are at now,” he said. A player with experience left the club before the start of the season: Anthony Modeste (34) moved to Borussia Dortmund for around 5 million euros. “I understand that that’s part of the business, but at the same time we weren’t entirely happy with the way the change in our first Bundesliga game went,” said Baumgart.
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In the meantime, however, he has come to terms with the situation: “I’m not someone who lives in the past. I’m glad he was with us and that he played well. But I’m concentrating on the guys who are here now.” When asked about possible reinforcements for attacking in the winter, he replied that they “always want to improve the team”. “Whether we sign a striker or not, we’ll have to see.”
Interview: Manuel Veth (AmsterdamLoewe)
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