1. FC Köln has a new coach: For René Wagner it is his first job as head coach – and it won’t be easy. In any case, the goal is clear: staying in the league.
Lukas Kwasniok is history as Cologne coach, the previous assistant coach René Wagner is supposed to protect 1. FC Köln from relegation to the 2. Bundesliga preserve. Wagner is praised from all sides for his demeanor and his good contact with the team. But how does he approach the new task?
Wagner speaks of “big Challenge”
On Monday he led training as head coach for the first time, and on Tuesday Wagner answered questions from the media. He answered the journalists’ many questions calmly and matter-of-factly – no loudspeaker, no casual saying, as we sometimes know or rather knew from Kwasniok.
When asked how he wanted to approach his commitment and how he was doing as boss, he replied: “I’m doing quite well at the moment. Of course it’s a big challenge now.” As an assistant coach, you have closer contact with the team than would have been possible as a head coach, explained Wagner, when asked about his supposedly good “connection” with the players. This role will change for him in the future.
Wagner: “A few percentage points are missing from victory”
As is well known, the new head coach is required immediately. Only two wins from the last 18 games cost predecessor Kwasniok his job and allowed FC to slip deep into the relegation battle again. In 15th place, Cologne is still one place ahead of the relegation place 16. Wagner has two weeks until the next game against Frankfurt, and the Bundesliga is taking a break at the weekend due to international matches.
“The situation is not ideal, but we want to convey that the performance is good. Maybe we are only missing a percentage point or two to win again.”said Wagner. Kwasniok had always used similar words as an argument for his continued employment.
Cologne has also been lacking luck recently
Neither of them is completely wrong when they say: The team never completely fell apart during the crisis and there were no major defeats. At times, FC was even the slightly better team, but in addition to individual mistakes, the Cologne team simply lacked the necessary luck at times.
However, it is also a fact: it was never enough to win because Cologne lacked the necessary balance. If you scored a lot of goals like in the derby against Gladbach, your defensive work suffered and Cologne conceded too many goals. If FC placed more emphasis on defense, the front line was often lacking in ideas. The result? None of the games, whether with many or few goals, could be won.
Wagner: “If we keep up the class, we’ve done a good job”
He did not yet want to answer what exactly Wagner would like to change as head coach: “That would be far too early. We’ll be training for two weeks now.” But the new guy still allowed some insights on the sidelines. He is happy that he has gained an experienced assistant coach in Armin Reutershahn: “Armin has almost 30 years in the Bundesliga under his belt, which was one of the reasons why we wanted him.”
Wagner also said that he had already identified one or two approaches that he wanted to work on with the team during the international break. In the end he said what all FC sympathizers would like to hear and celebrate: the goal of staying in the league: “If we hold the class, then we’ve done a good job.”
Our sources:
- Media round with coach René Wagner
- Sportschau statistics page
