Manager trusted his youngsters and showed he may be more tactically astute than many believe in win over LeverkusenFortune favours the brave, they say. Maybe FC Köln had little option this weekend after six matches without a win, leaving them stuck in the relegation mud. In a city where the fortunes of Effzeh are felt so intensely, it hasn’t just been the shortcomings but the mood. After sweeping to the 2. Bundesliga title last season on the back of 84 goals scored, the 12 in 14 scored before this weekend meant that all the air had seeped out of the club’s post-promotion bounce. Something had to change. Related: European roundup: Lionel Messi hat-trick sends Barcelona top as Real chase Hoffenheim...
The Austrian could not be doing more to remain as manager, with his side now looking as if they have put in a shiftOn other weekends, it would have been a cause for glumness. Yet even in falling a place below bitter rivals Schalke, from second to third, it felt as if it had been a fairly successful day for Borussia Dortmund. They emerged from Saturday evening’s Topspiel at RB Leipzig not only with a point – and having maintained a three-point lead over their hosts in the race for Champions League qualification – but with the satisfying feeling of having put in a shift.They can be few things that their coach, Peter Stöger, cherishes as much as this. Many...
The midfielder has added simplicity to Effzeh’s squad since arriving from Nice and has a nickname that might stickOne start and two substitute appearances in, and he is already being lauded as Der Zauberzwerg – the magic dwarf – for FC Köln. Vincent Koziello was one of the most wrong-footing signings of the Bundesliga’s winter window, a player heavily linked with Arsenal and even Barcelona in the past, a mini-Xavi cutting a swathe on the Côte d’Azur before arriving at the bottom club. He has, however, had to bide his time. “Vincent arrived just after we won against Gladbach,” coach Stefan Ruthenbeck recalled last week. “He hadn’t been playing much in Nice. We didn’t have any friendlies to integrate him....
Ralph Hasenhüttl has belief in the match-winning debutant who ‘only brought one pair of boots with him from England’It could have been all so different for Diego Forlán. So he thought, at least. Some years back he famously told an interviewer the tale of his last match for Manchester United, against Chelsea in 2004. Sir Alex Ferguson told him to wear boots with soft-ground studs but, feeling more comfortable in moulded, low studs, he ignored his boss. Late on, Forlán lost his footing in front of goal and missed a chance and was never picked again. After RB Leipzig’s late win at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, it appears that Fussballgott is very much on the side of Ademola Lookman. Three...
Peter Stöger’s name deserves to be cherished in the context of the club’s history, and it is sad that his tenure in Cologne fell apart like it didIn a way it ended just as it was supposed to, with honour. As Peter Stöger took his final bow in front of the Köln fans who had travelled to Schalke on Saturday, doffing his cap, he was given the warm send-off his work over the last four-and-a-half years has deserved. Teenage defender Tim Handwerker wasn’t the only player wiping tears from his eyes as they said goodbye to the coach. When the team coach arrived back at Rhein-Energie Stadion on Saturday evening, a throng of fans applauded Stöger off as he emerged....