Steffen Baumgart’s commitment as Union Berlin’s new coach is seen as something like the return of a prodigal son. Emotionally, the step is undoubtedly a direct hit. In terms of football, however, there are questions.
Would you have to argue in court why it was a good idea? Steffen Baumgart new coach of the Bundesliga soccer club 1. FC Union Berlin, one should be prepared for a detailed plea.
In due brief: Baumgart was not only a professional at Union, but also a captain and two-time “Player of the Season”, he lives in Köpenick, his wife Katja once managed the club’s fan shops, and Union’s sports director Horst Heldt previously hired him 2021 for 1. FC Köln, Baumgart also knows the Bundesliga and is considered a people-catcher and motivator.
Union Berlin signs Steffen Baumgart as their new coach
Steffen Baumgart will be the new head coach of 1. FC Union Berlin. The 52-year-old former Köpenicker player succeeds Bo Svensson, who was released by the Bundesliga club last Friday.more
Does Union’s team suit Baumgart?
It should therefore be considered a given that the overwhelming majority of Union fans will be looking forward to the new football year. Because Baumgart, as Union coach, always hung a bit like a fever dream over the An der Alten Försterei stadium since he set out in 2017 to march from the third to the first league with SC Paderborn and then with 1. FC Cologne to Europe.
But the stars were never really favorable for this supposed dream couple; one of the two parties was always just too successful in an already existing constellation. And so in February 2024 Baumgart went to Hamburger SV, which is his other great love, alongside 1. FC Union. Or was, depending on how well he coped with his departure from the former Bundesliga giant after just 278 days in office in November.
Baumgart seemed almost as well-done for HSV as he is for Union: a huge, traditional club, deeply connected to its new coach, just waiting to be emotionally pushed over the finish line and back into the first league. But the plan didn’t work. Probably also because the squad didn’t really fit, or at least not with Baumgart’s idea of football. The big question now is: Does Union’s team suit Steffen Baumgart?
Baumgart once explained his playing philosophy in an interview with the trade journal “Kicker” as follows: “It’s better to have one more at the back and in return we see a lot of goals at the front.” A sentence that should put a smile on the lips of many football fans, but which fits 1. FC Union in recent years about as well as this one: “The club’s home games are played in the Olympic Stadium.”
Bo Svensson: A tragic figure
Union Berlin is parting ways with Bo Svensson after just six months. The coach was unable to sustainably improve the team. But: He also failed because the squad was too weak. Now the pressure is on Horst Heldt. A Comment by Till Oppermannmore
Is the club correcting the mistakes of the summer?
The former striker Baumgart stands for almost unconditional offense, intensive pressing and quick transition play. Over the course of his coaching career, he mostly relied on a back four and clear target players in the attack. If you were to draw up a list of characteristics of Union football in the Bundesliga years, at most you would find the desire for quick switching play.
The Köpenickers’ hope must therefore be that Union’s defensive qualities are literally in the team’s DNA, so that even Baumgart’s probably much more offensive approach does not come at the expense of defensive stability. And that Baumgart made up of the existing and so far unfortunate strikers and goal strikers like Jordan, Andrej Ilic and Ivan Prtajin able to get more out of it than his predecessor Bo Svensson.
However, relying on the “rustic rhetorician” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) to suddenly and decisively improve these players may seem too risky for the club. And many experts consider it almost impossible.
But if the club corrects its mistakes from the transfer summer with offensive new signings, it would be fine good reasons given to continue working with defensive coach Bo Svensson. Before his signing, it was quite clear why the Dane fits in quite well with 1. FC Union on hand. Most of them, in contrast to Baumgart, were of a footballing nature.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, December 30, 2024, 6:15 p.m
