The 1. FC Köln once again shows that the billy goats have two faces this season. The constant ups and downs not only endangers the climb.
Actually, it is hard to believe: the 1. FC Köln has only won four points in the past four games and still continues to work at the top of the table of the 2nd Bundesliga. However, this is not because the FC had previously played out a huge lead over the competition, which has now melted together to four points. The reason is the weakness of the other teams.
With 54 points, 46 goals scored and nine defeats in 31 match days, it is a miracle that FC is in first place. Nothing other than the terrifying level of the 2nd league lets the billy goats go into the last three season games as a favorite. The unnecessary defeat in Hanover was only another evidence that something in the team was wrong.
The billy goats have been experiencing a constant ups and downs for months. Twice, FC won three games in a row in the second half of the season, only to then pat several times. Whenever the team of coach Gerhard Struber had built up a small cushion down, she destroyed it again with poor appearances.
The problem is not the defeats, but the way. The FC is still tied in the second half of the season with three other teams in second place, but has only scored 14 goals in 14 games-which should actually be the balance of a relegation candidate. Only the successful minimalism of the past few months has ensured that the FC had no crash.
Even though everything should get better in the second half of the season. After an expected difficult first half of the season, the winter training camp, together with the new additions in January, should provide a thrust. Struber and players wanted to move closer together, better import themselves, become even more dominant. But nothing can be seen of all of this.
Instead, the FC stands in the way. Numerous players experience frightening forms. FC has not developed in a playful way for months. Again and again the billy goats afford phases in the game without great resistance and without a concept. The squad continues to have an unbalanced effect, the coaching team often works without influence on the sidelines.
Because FC will play against the bottom of the table from Regensburg next weekend, FC fans can hope for a home win and thus the next step towards the Bundesliga promotion. Nevertheless, those responsible must not take the developments of the past few months lightly.
Even in the promotion, a lot has to go to the test stone after the season. The second half of the season is a warning example that FC is far from being ready for the Bundesliga. The defeat in Hanover was another document for this. The 1. FC Köln in the 2024/25 season too often shows two faces. One thing is very first class, the other, on the other hand, does not even have an upscale second division level.