A lot has changed at 1. FC Köln under the new coach Steffen Baumgart. In contrast to the past two years, the team seems transformed. The new recipe for attractive football and fast wing play paired with a lot of willingness to run not only brought a successful first half of the season – it should be the “Club DNA“At least, if it is up to those responsible at FC.
So went the first half of the season
With 27:27 goals and a strong score of 25 points, Cologne is as good as it was in 2016/17 under Peter Stöger – back then it went all the way to Europe. Much more important for trainer Baumgart: “It’s fun to watch again.” The coach, who was signed up in the summer, formed a team with a completely different game idea from almost the same squad that only secured the league in the relegation: offensive, passionate, paired with a lot of vigor.
Some players also developed astonishingly: Benno Schmitz, Salih Öczan or Louis Schaub found their way back to old strengths or continued to develop. And Anthony Modeste’s performance almost exploded: The 33-year-old scored eleven goals in the first half of the season and is the league’s most dangerous attacker in the air with eight goals with a header. He shot FC 2016/17 into the international competition with similarly good form.