Titz and Schork heads of success
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Christian Titz has not heard the word home for a long time. “This is something that is played very strongly. I honestly don’t make myself a big head, ”said the coach of 1. FC Magdeburg recently the“Folk vote“. Already at the end of November he had “MDR” microphone emphasizes: “I’m not talking about it. It is talked about from the outside. I don’t like to address it. ”For almost a year, his team has been waiting for a win in the home AVNET arena. And yet the FCM is one of the promotion candidates of the 2nd Bundesliga.
The Magdeburgers are walking between genius and madness this season. While the away table is given by far with 28 points from eleven games, the FCM in the home table with only seven points from ten games together with Hertha is in the last place. In the history of the single-track 2nd league, there was never a greater discrepancy in favor of the away balance sheet among the top teams in the table.
The defense behavior is particularly difficult for the team. With 33 goals, the Magdeburger have most of most among the promotion aspirants. “We are beating ourselves. We simply did not consistently defend in the crucial situations,” Titz explained at “Sports in the east“After the last minute defeat in the 3: 4 spectacle against 1. FC Nürnberg last weekend. “The last goal annoys me for the reason: four players run away, we open the room – we were eight against five.”
1. FC Magdeburg struggles with defense behavior
In the winter transfer window, the FCM had a further reinforcement for the defensive with Patric Pfeiffer (25, loan of Augsburg), which also did not make a good picture during his debut at the Nuremberg winning goal. “Sometimes there are days when you can only beat yourself – today was such a day,” stated Titz. Central defender Jean Hugonet (25), who had met both in his own goal and for the meantime, 3: 3 equalization, spoke of a “bitter end”.
“They come into the penalty area three times and score three goals. We’ll be conceding too many goals. We cannot win a game every week if we always get two, three or four goals. And ourselves does not manage to score four goals every weekend. We need more stability on the defensive, ”emphasized the Frenchman. Attacker Baris Atik (30) explained in the “MDR“, They” made a lot of mistakes “and thereby invited the opponent. “Absolute madness. It is really shocking that this opponent then takes three points here. “
Soon it was exactly a year ago that 1. FC Magdeburg was recently able to win a home win. On February 24, 2024, Schalke was clearly beaten 3-0. “Cruel” is the negative series in front of your own fans, emphasized Atik. Since 15 games, the AVNET-Arena has no longer been cheered by a threesome. In the single -track 2nd league, no team was previously without a win in consecutive seasons. “We have to do the next week better,” said Atik. On Friday (6:30 p.m.) with leader 1. FC Köln, a hard chunk is waiting.
The fact that Magdeburg is still talking about a word in the promotion race is due to the famous away balance sheet. The FCM ran 28 out of 33 possible points. Likewise, a second division record for eleven games like the 32 goals scored. The offensive compensates for what is not going smoothly on the defensive. Top scorer Martijn Kaars (25) is an example of this.
The Dutch scored twelve of his 15 goals in opposing places. “The home teams want to play and press up, there are rooms for me,” said Kaars, who is already called “Mister away”, according to “Kicker“The difference. With almost 40 sprints per game, he sets most. “When I can run and get these balls, I just score the goals.” However, the vertical game with precise shifts over long balls comes to a standstill against deep opponents in the home stadium, Kaars is staged much less frequently.
1. FC Magdeburg can also keep up in the transfer geria
The development of the recent years shows that Magdeburg can now win players of the profile of a Kaar or Pfeiffer. In the transfer of transfer with the second division competitors, one can now “keep up a bit-sporty and economically,” emphasized sports director Otmar Schork in conversation with the “ZDF“, Which is a face of the advancement of the traditional association from the east, which, after the dissolution of the GDR Oberliga, commuted a good three decades between third and fourth class.
In November 2020, Schork took over the sporty reins at the relegation -threatened FCM in the 3rd league, three months later he brought Titz as a coach on board. The 53-year-old led the penultimate in the table to a safe midfield, the championship and in the 2nd league twice to the end of the class in the next season. Now the Magdeburger under Titz, who had previously won an average of 1.61 points in 152 games, have set themselves as promotion candidates in the balanced and narrow lower house.
“I asked myself: Which coach stands for offensive football, who is able to set playful impulses with our team and in particular to create more scoring opportunities and score goals?” has become a real brand. “Our pound is the football content. The players convince the way we play football. They prefer to have the ball and not just pretend the opponent. ”With 57 percent, the dominant FCM has the highest possession. “In the 2nd league, the game culture has also increased enormously by Christian Titz as a pioneer.”
1. FC Magdeburg sees “historical chance” on the Bundesliga
Even if the goal is to play a carefree season, you do not deny the magic word in Magdeburg. “If so, we want to take a historical opportunity for us,” said Schork. Except for Union Berlin, no former GDR league team has been playing in the Bundesliga since the descent of Hansa Rostock in 2008 and Energie Cottbus in 2009. An increase in the only European Cup winner of GDR football would be a sensation, but also not a “operating accident”, emphasized Schork, who sees the continuous further development primarily.
The Magdeburg location is not an easy economy economically, Schork warned. Above all, the infrastructure of the Elbestädter is not even suitable for second division. “We don’t have a modern campus, so we have absolutely catching up to do,” emphasized the sports director. Coach Titz recently also expressed his resentment about the constitution of training places in winter: “For us, it is the problem that we have to put the training times in the late afternoon to hope that the sun will open the place.”
The increased risk of injury of its players alone would be an important argument for improvements in order not to lose any other top performers like Herbert Bockhorn (30) or Lubambo Musonda (29). However, the FCM is bound by the FCM because the stadium grounds of the city of Magdeburg belong. “It is a shame that there is no willingness to change things as soon as possible,” said Titz.
In order to be able to prevail in the promotion battle, the blue-whites have to start winning again at home. Fortuna Düsseldorf (1994/95) and Mainz 05 (2008/09) once reached 27 points in front of a home crowd, of which the Magdeburgers are still 20 points away at seven outstanding games in the Avnet Arena. In addition to the Cologneers, the FCM receives four large competitors in the race for the front places with the HSV, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Fortuna.
Despite the continued weakness of the home, the distance to the ride in the ascent is just three points. The FCM was even among the top three on eight out of 21 match days. The balanced 2nd league allows 1. FC Magdeburg to dream of the Bundesliga. “Everything is possible,” says Schork.