After two difficult seasons after being promoted back in 2018, Bayer 04 Leverkusen have established themselves in the women’s Bundesliga. With a new coach, the Bayer women now want to carefully look up.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen is entering its fifth season in the women’s Bundesliga. While the first two years after being promoted back in 2018 were still difficult, Leverkusen have established themselves in the league in recent years. With the new coach Robert de Pauw, the next step should now succeed.
That’s how last season went
The Bayer women have had a season of contrasts. After a strong start with 15 points from the first six games, the Werkself suffered a sensitive 3:4 derby defeat against 1. FC Köln – and then only picked up one point by the end of the second half of the season.
In the back series, the Bayer women then suffered bad luck with injuries. Many injuries and corona infections among his players repeatedly posed challenges for coach Achim Feifel. In addition, striker Verena Wieder tore her cruciate ligament and was out for the rest of the season. Overall, the Werkself picked up six points in the second half of the season and ended the season in a solid seventh place in the table. The Bayer women never had anything to do with relegation.
In the DFB Cup, Leverkusen even caused a stir and advanced to the semi-finals. Despite a strong performance, the game ended in the last four against Turbine Potsdam (3:4).
Who is coming, who is going?
The most important change took place at Bayer 04 in the coaching position. Achim Feifel has changed to the role of sports director. The Dutchman Robert de Pauw will be on the sidelines in future. The 42-year-old coached Twente Enschede for the championship last season and has already gained experience in the Dutch association’s youth development programme.
In addition, nine players have left the club. Jessica Wich and Ann-Kathrin Vinken have ended their careers. In the future, Dóra Zeller will be chasing goals for BK Häcken in Sweden. She was the woman who scored important goals at Bayer 04 last season and her goals shot the Werkself into the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the DFB Cup.
On the other hand, there are seven newcomers. With Selina Ostermeier, Jill Baying’s Elisa Sens, three players came from league competitor SGS Essen – a well-rehearsed trio. Manchester United’s Ivana Ferreira Fuso is set to step up the attack. The most interesting player is probably Alexandra Emmeling, who scored 13 goals and six assists for SV Meppen in league one last season.
“We compensated well for our departures and improved the quality of the squad. With our new signings, we have created good options for our head coach Robert de Pauw,” said Thomas Eichin, head of youth and women’s affairs at Bayer 04.
Coach de Pauw was also satisfied: “The team gained a few new faces in the summer. The newcomers were integrated into the team quite quickly and in a very natural way. Of course I’m happy to see that. I see in the training sessions that the players get along well with each other.“
The trainer
Robert de Pauw has so far been an unknown quantity in Germany. Bayer 04 is his first stop in German football. He started early in his coaching career. Already as a teenager he was an assistant coach at the juniors of SCE Nijmegen, where his father worked as a youth coordinator. He later moved to the youth department of the Eredivise club NEC Nijmegen.
Robert de Pauw is the new coach for the Bayer women.
The 41-year-old could not live on his salary at the time. That’s why he worked as a social worker alongside football. A job that still helps him today as a coach: “My work now is very similar to working as a social worker. Basically, I also help people in football and try to create better circumstances for them and get the most out of a situation out,” he said on the Bayer website.
Via the Dutch association, where he was runner-up with the U17 juniors in 2019, De Pauw ended up at FC Twente Enschede in 2021, where he won the women’s Eredivise in his debut season.
Bayer 04 have now secured his services. And in Leverkusen, De Pauw wants to close the gap to the top clubs: “We at Bayer 04 want to be an indicator. In the Bundesliga we’re looking at Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. And in the women’s Bundesliga at Wolfsburg and also at Bayern . At Bayer 04 we also want to become a club in women’s football that our league rivals don’t like to go to because they know they’re going to have a difficult game.”
expectations for the season
In Leverkusen they are ready for the next step. After three seasons in the middle of the table, the Bayer women now want to cautiously look up. Eichin told the WDR: “We want to remain stable – that means: we have nothing to do with the relegation battle.” But he also adds: “We want to play in the secure midfield and at best scratch third place in the table.”
The squad was sensibly strengthened, and the departures were well compensated. If the new signings find each other quickly and Robert de Pauw’s system works, the Bayer women could cause a surprise or two this season.
