Colossal upheaval after crash
Arminia Bielefeld has almost no player left
06/07/2023, 8:13 p.m
A new start could hardly be more gigantic: Arminia Bielefeld is facing a complete upheaval after the crashing fall from the Bundesliga to third division. Just a few hours after being relegated to the 3rd division, the club presented a new manager.
Fabian Klos also wants to remain available for his heart club on vacation. “The club knows 100% that I have my mobile phone with me on vacation and that everyone can always call me,” said the legend of Arminia Bielefeld after the crash in the 3rd soccer league. The 35-year-old wants to continue despite the expiring contract and help shape the new start at East Westphalia. A good ten hours after the relegation was sealed by the 1: 2 against SV Wehen Wiesbaden, the Bielefeld presented a main responsible for it: Michael Mutzel becomes sports director.
The 43-year-old, who last worked as sports director at Hamburger SV from 2019 to 2022, will have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks. The sentence, which is often overused in a crisis situation, that “business as usual” cannot exist – in Bielefeld it really applies. Almost no player has a contract for the 3rd division. It is obvious that Bielefeld was not prepared for this horror scenario. And yet Mutzel approaches his task as the successor to Samir Arabi, who was sacked in March, “with great joy, conviction and full commitment”. The new strongman emphasized that he “looks positively ahead”.
Arminia can use fresh vigor and confidence only too well, the relationship with the fans is tense after many bad performances – and the sporting concerns of an uncertain future are great. Perhaps this (forced) restart also offers opportunities. After all, East Westphalia has extremely successful youth teams, and the U17s recently became German champions. One player who played a big part in that came on as a substitute in the 2-1 draw against Wiesbaden on Tuesday: 16-year-old Henrik Koch made his professional debut in the second half. But other clubs have long had their eye on the attacker, who has scored 17 goals in 14 games in the U17 Bundesliga.
Klos makes clear announcements
Financially, the loss of the second division affiliation weighs heavily. In addition, it is not clear with which coach Arminia is tackling the mission of resurgence. Uwe Koschinat has already indicated that he would like to continue. Bielefeld is a club with “amazing radiance,” said the 51-year-old. The question is whether the club also wants to continue working with the coach.
“Those responsible can think about who they want to continue with next season. Who they want to offer a contract to,” said Klos. “The players can consider whether they still want to play Arminia Bielefeld. That has to be the basic requirement for the next season.” Already after the embarrassing 0:4 in the relegation first leg, Klos questioned the character of the Arminia team. Now the captain made it clear: “The 3rd league is disgusting. You have to stand your ground there.”
That didn’t work in the second division. Some Bielefeld failed to adjust to the new environment after being relegated to the Bundesliga in 2022. “As a fan, the sentence always applies: love for the club knows no league,” said Koschinat and added meaningfully: “And as a player: you have to love the league you play in. If you love the conditions in the league rule, don’t accept, you’ll get punched in the face week after week.” Even in the third-highest German league, direct promotion is anything but a sure-fire success. Numerous traditional clubs such as Dynamo Dresden, 1860 Munich or 1. FC Saarbrücken want to move up. The fight for the 2nd Bundesliga will be tough.
“It was used as an opportunity back then”
Klos finds hope in the past. “It has happened before that we were relegated to the 3rd division. I was there at the time, too,” he said. “It was used as an opportunity back then. In the years that followed we had a lot of fun with Arminia Bielefeld. That has to be the goal in the short term.” After being relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga in 2014, Arminia managed to return directly, and Bielefeld also caused a sensation in the DFB Cup and reached the semi-finals.
This time, too, Klos wants to help ensure that things quickly pick up again. Managing Director Christoph Wortmann has already announced talks with Arminia’s record scorer. For Klos, despite all the sadness of relegation, one thing is certain: “It doesn’t feel like saying goodbye to me right now.”