Monday, November 8th, 2021
Worrying development in Cologne
Baumgart “pissed off” by whistles against team
Under cult trainer Steffen Baumgart, euphoria has broken out in Cologne in recent weeks. Good football, and successful too. The wildest European cup dreams are already blooming on the Rhine. In the 2-2 draw against Union Berlin, the mood turns threateningly for the first time. The man in the flat cap is mad.
Steffen Baumgart no longer understood the world. And he chose authentic and clear words even in the disappointment. He was “pissed off” at the fans’ whistles in the 2-2 draw against 1. FC Union Berlin. The behavior of many supporters “bothered” and “annoyed” him. It is even “questionable”. The coach, who was hymnically revered after a very short time, now feels the disadvantages of the hype he triggered around the FC: Increased expectations of the team that was only saved in the relegation last year and hardly strengthened. An expectation in which the “European Cup” chants are a bit ironic, but a 1: 2 deficit against the European Cup participants Union is difficult to accept.
Baumgart apparently took the new notes and the criticism of his team personally. “We have a way to go and we have to develop. You can do that too,” said the 49-year-old and apparently doesn’t shy away from conflict with his own fans. Words that only a trainer of his standing can take. And so he actually received mostly positive reactions to his advance in the social networks.
Football is fun again
Baumgart made it clear: Those who want and celebrate their spectacular football must also accept the risks and side effects. “For two or three years football looked different here. Now it looks like it is fun. Mistakes are made,” he said, making it clear that he would not deviate an inch from his path.
That Baumgart, for his part, is perfectionist and never satisfied, was felt by Anthony Modeste of all people. When the Frenchman stole the flat cap from the coach after equalizing in the 86th minute and his third brace in two weeks and performed a dance in front of him, he was shouted at. “A game like that isn’t over because you’re happy about a 2-2 draw,” said Baumgart: “You have to stay in the game.” True to Oliver Kahn’s famous motto: “Further, always further.”
Sports director Jakobs angry too
That is Baumgart’s motto. “I will continue to demand that and hope that the boys will continue to have confidence in this football. And in one or the other situation, I will not listen to the outside world,” explained Baumgart: “I am working to ensure that we do not fall back into old patterns. If if we’d done that and hit the balls for a long time, we wouldn’t have had a chance against Union. If anyone has a problem with this football, I’ll take responsibility. ”
He promised his players one hundred percent support. If you do a lot, you sometimes do something wrong. “I stand by the boys. We’re not at the end of the road yet. We’ll lose games too. But we’ll be more successful in the long run.”
While the players mostly responded evasively to questions about whistles, sports director Jörg Jakobs also expressed clear criticism. “I really wonder what the idea is,” he said. There is “too much expectation. I would like the team to be supported and strengthened accordingly. And not let displeasure run free. I think that’s counterproductive.” Jakobs summarized all of this in a motto that, in his opinion, the Cologne fans should take to heart. “From my point of view, only one person should whistle in the stadium in Cologne, apart from the referee. And that’s our coach.”