At the end of the first half of the season, Karlsruher SC has found its form – and wants to prove it in the second half of the season. Coach and team are not satisfied with the results so far.
This is how the first half of the season went:
Different than hoped. Before the season, there was great euphoria among the fans, especially because Karlsruher SC had managed to win Lars Stindl. In the meantime, many have become disillusioned or at least have come to the realization that the team is not yet ready to play at the top. The Baden team are twelfth in the 2nd Bundesliga after 17 games. The most recent performances give us encouragement that the return series will be more successful. “I know that some people would like to be further ahead – I can reassure them: the coach too,” said Christian Eichner after the conciliatory and intense end of the year with a 3-2 win against SV Elversberg. A game that was emblematic of the first half of the season: KSC took the lead early on, had the game under control, but gradually lost control and had to tremble in the end. But unlike in many other games, the team saved the lead over time.
The KSC has lost a lot of points after leading in recent months. Seven times there was no win despite being in the lead, four of these seven games ended in a draw and three were lost. The KSC lost a total of 17 points, with which they could have been leaders at the winter break. “Logically, you suffer with the team when you hear that every week. It’s not that pleasant,” said Eichner.
So far, his team has only kept a clean sheet twice: in the 3-0 win against Schalke (one of the highlights) and in the 2-0 win against Braunschweig. That’s why the coach and his team worked primarily on defensive stability during the training camp in Spain.
Who is coming, who is going?
Karlsruher SC is looking for reinforcements in midfield and in attack. Sebastian Freis, the “Professionals Division Manager”, who is responsible for squad planning, has not yet been able to report any transfers. But that is only a matter of time, because in the last few weeks it has become apparent that Nicolai Rapp, 27, will move from SV Werder Bremen to the Baden team. The defensive midfielder has appeared in two Bundesliga games this season. The Heidelberg native can be used flexibly, which gives head coach Christian Eichner additional options given the rather narrow squad (16 fit licensed players for the field were in the training camp). Eichner, it’s no secret, also wants a striker. After all, he plays with two attackers, but only has three in the squad.
The KSC has not yet recorded any departures in winter. After the season, offensive player Tim Rossmann leaves the second division team and joins league rivals Düsseldorf. The people of Baden would have liked to extend their stay with their own plant. It is not yet certain whether Lars Stindl will continue to play for KSC in the coming season or whether he will end his career. “I still feel quite good. But a decision like this always involves weighing up the sporting and personal components,” said the 35-year-old to the “Badische Neuesten Nachrichten” before the new start in the 2nd Bundesliga.
The trainer
Christian Eichner has a difficult task: On the one hand, he should lead Karlsruher SC as high as possible in the table, but on the other hand, he is expected to develop young players. After all, the second division team relies on transfer income every year. This was not initially successful in the first series. After twelve games, the KSC was in relegation place 16 with only three wins. When timid calls of “Eichner out” were heard in November after a 3-0 loss against Paderborn, it was a new situation for the coach. “I have to explain that to my daughter first because she doesn’t know it,” says KSC coach Christian Eichner in an interview with SWR Sport. “It’s not that easy. Interestingly, it’s more difficult for those around you than for yourself.”
But Sebastian Freis had his back even back then. “Basically, it’s relatively normal in this business that this can happen from time to time. But that doesn’t affect our attitude,” said the ex-KSC professional. “We are determined to move even closer together in the situation and get out of it together.” And that worked. The Karlsruhe team have recently been unbeaten for five games in a row and are going into the second half of the season in twelfth place.
Expectations for the second half of the season
“We have hard-working characters in the dressing room who want to be higher up in the table,” says Eichner. And his players also repeatedly said that the current situation does not meet their needs. They repeatedly emphasize how much quality there is in the team. They want to prove that in the second series and climb up as many places in the table as possible. It won’t be easy, after all, the KSC has a thin squad. And if, as is currently the case, Lars Stindl basically misses the entire winter preparation due to persistent problems in his right calf, that doesn’t make the situation any easier.
But Eichner is confident that the team will carry their form into the new year before the winter break. In the training camp she beat Swiss first division club FC Luzern and league rivals 1. FC Nürnberg 3-1. Two good signs before the start of the second half of the season against VfL Osnabrück (01/19/24, 6:30 p.m.).
Broadcast on Sunday, January 21, 2024, 10:05 p.m., SWR Sport, SWR