Europe dream instead of relegation battle
“I would have preferred to have continued playing,” coach Bernd Hollerbach told the Belgian regional newspaper last week.Het Belang Van Limburg“ with a view to the international break and the strong form of his team VV St. Truiden. With a run of 17 out of a possible 21 points, the Limburg club suddenly sniffed the playoffs after weeks in the bottom third of the table – which is also due to the strong defense of ex-Bundesliga professional Robert Bauer.
“I’m definitely very satisfied with how my first year has gone so far. After my red suspension in December, I played 90 minutes in every game and, together with the rest of the defence, played a large part in our run,” the 26-year-old sums up in an interview with Transfermarkt. Bauer came to Belgium on a free transfer from Arsenal Tula in September and quickly established himself as a regular under Hollerbach.
The season for the defensive all-rounder had started with bad news. In his sixth appearance in the 1-0 win over KV Mechelen, he was sent off in the 87th minute after a foul. “It’s unbelievable that I was banned for four games for this red card. You have to think about it: First I was banned for three games and appealed against it – only to get one more game. I have never experienced something like that.”
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During the downtime, St. Truiden lost three out of four games and slipped from midfield into the relegation battle. It wasn’t until the turn of the year that the upswing came back, which Bauer mainly explains with the internalization of coach Hollerbach’s playing style: “We’re not the team that plays everything, but we’re defensively very good and we keep putting pinpricks up front.”
Robert Bauer: Hollerbach’s “philosophy fits very well into this league”
Hollerbach relies on a compact defensive with a chain of five. Bauer has already played in the centre, as a right-back and as a clearer in front of the defence. “I noticed in the talks in the summer that it helps that the coach knows my past and that I can speak German with him. But also completely detached from the nationality and the language: His philosophy fits very well into this league – that’s why we’re so successful,” says Bauer about the 52-year-old.
Hollerbach, who only signed on at St. Truiden at the start of the season after a year without a club, had installed another new German signing as captain. Ex-HSV professional Toni Leistner (31), who came on a free transfer like Bauer, hit the ground running and formed an experienced duo with Bauer on the defensive, which is the sixth-best in the league with 40 goals conceded. With Gladbach loan Rocco Reitz (19) there is even another German in the team. “The three of us actually hang out together every day, whether on the club grounds or privately. We’ve become really good friends here,” says Bauer. There are no small groups – in addition to the German block there are also six Japanese around Shinji Kagawa (33) in the squad: “We have a great team structure and have become a real community in the last few months. The mix just fits really well and you can see that on the pitch. We work, fight and run for each other.”
St. Truiden on top after a winning streak: “Playoffs are within reach”
With 45 points from 32 games, St. Truiden has nothing to do with the relegation battle and is tied with KRC Genk in ninth place. Should the direct competitor be overtaken in the remaining two games, there would even be a chance of a European competition in the playoffs (the teams in fifth to eighth place play for participation in the Conference League).
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“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to play a more relaxed season than the last one, when we only managed to stay up shortly before the end. We’ve done that pretty well so far, and we’re currently taking it game by game. After we recently defeated leaders Saint Gilloise and won the derby against Genk, the playoffs are suddenly within reach. From then on anything would be possible,” says Bauer.
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