1. FC Köln has finished its training camp in Estepona, Spain. The second division leaders are so well prepared for the second half of the season.
The professionals from 1. FC Köln have been back home since late Friday evening. After the 3-3 draw in the 120-minute XXL test against FC Lugano, the team made its way to the airport in Malaga. There the FC entourage boarded the plane to the Rhineland with league rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf, who had set up their winter quarters in Marbella.
For a week, the people of Cologne worked intensively on their mission of resurgence under the Spanish sun. After all, the autumn championship title should not just be a snapshot. Ideally, FC wants to be among the top two teams in the second division at the end of May. But how well were the Cologne team able to prepare for the second half of the season in Estepona?
While the pitches at Geißbockheim were covered in a thick layer of snow last week, the pitch at the Estepona Football Center left nothing to be desired. Unlike the summer training camp in Bad Waltersdorf, the pitches on the Costa del Sol were in excellent condition. The Kempinski Hotel Bahia, around 15 minutes away by team bus, also offered the FC professionals perfect conditions.
Accordingly, FC coach Gerhard Struber also spoke of a “very positive” week in Andalusia, which, with temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees, also provided a more than pleasant environment from the outside. “We had a really good week of training,” said the Austrian shortly before the return journey. “The whole squad has good energy. We were able to practice a lot of good things.”
The coaching team once again put their “thumbs in the wound,” particularly when it came to the principles of the game, as the Austrian explained. It became clear that FC will probably also rely on a three-man chain in the second half of the season. Now it’s all about the fine-tuning and the work in detail, for which there was no time while the game was running. In addition, the Cologne team noticeably often had standards practiced again.
In addition to the work on the pitch, there was also time for intensive discussions in Spain. In joint “workshops”, as Gerhard Struber calls it, the team once again committed themselves and sharpened their senses. “It’s about how we want to act as a team in the near future and how we want to appear to the outside world. It’s not just about victory and defeat, but also about how we want to represent the billy goat,” explained the 47-year-old.
The mood was dampened by Mark Uth’s renewed injury. The attacker suffered a structural muscle injury in his calf during the first training session. Accordingly, the 33-year-old had to leave early. The devastating diagnosis finally followed in Cologne, which will force him to take another break for a few weeks.
Furthermore, the FC was unable to fully implement its plans on the transfer market. The Cologne team actually wanted to have all of their new arrivals together in Spain. However, with Jusuf Gazibegović there was only one new addition on the pitch. The remaining transfer activities are currently at a standstill, although negotiations with FC Sion regarding a change for central defender Joel Schmied are about to be concluded.
After the team landed in Düsseldorf shortly before 11 p.m. on Friday, the players can now look forward to a free weekend. The specific matchday preparation for the game against Hamburger SV next Saturday begins on Monday morning. On Tuesday, the Struber team will have their dress rehearsal in the city duel against Viktoria Cologne.