1. FC Nuremberg against Preußen Münster: fight for survival in the lower house – sports

Olaf Rebbe knows all this. He knows only too well where he stayed three and a half years ago, which club he works for and what the people in the region are like. The sporting director of 1. FC Nürnberg may never be able to fully get used to the defeatism that people here carry around with them, and basically he would prefer to overlook it when they drink a glass that is three quarters full , said that it was a quarter empty. But now, after the first quarter of the season in the second Bundesliga, Rebbe will lose something.

It’s the day after Nuremberg’s 3-2 win against Preußen Münster, just 24 hours ago the club won for the third time this season. The 90 minutes could have been a start if the offensive actually gets going and the tender little plant that the club currently is after the all-encompassing upheaval grows and grows in the next few weeks. To do this, it now has to be watered, and coach Miroslav Klose does that on the pitch, as does sports director Joti Chatzialexiou and Rebbe in their offices, but the sports director has the impression that others don’t add water to grow the little plant and thrive leave it alone – but rather spirit.

He couldn’t quite understand the overheated atmosphere that had spread around the training area at Valznerweiher, says Rebbe, before it became clear in the conversation that it wasn’t just him don’t quite understand can – but not at all. On the one hand, he thinks that those around him judge Klose quite hastily and thus do not give him the opportunity to make a name for himself as a coach after his world career as a center forward. And on the other hand: the team is faring far too poorly in public opinion. There was a change in the summer, but the Rebbe perceives that people are already expecting a breakthrough.

Nuremberg’s sports director therefore says: “We have given up top performers and now other players should fill the gaps at the push of a button.” But you have to give them time because the second league is new for many.” And: “There are certainly easier tasks, than to train the club after such a big upheaval.” But I experience Miro as an absolute team player who works very meticulously for the club’s success.”

“In the end, the second division is a competition with unequal silverware.”

Overheated atmosphere, lack of patience with Klose, no leniency with the young team: There are several currents that displease the Rebbe. But: is he right? Is it really how Nuremberg’s sports director feels?

If you analyze the season so far with the necessary sobriety, there are definitely points that speak for Klose and his players. Nuremberg’s coach has already shown that he can turn games around, and the team has already shown what they are capable of – most recently on Saturday in the second half against Preußen Münster. Now one could counter that 1. FCN’s aim must be to defeat a promoted team at home; But the results show weekend after weekend that nothing can be taken for granted.

It was also quite impressive against Münster how Julian Justvan led the way in the role of the driver, how Caspar Jander impressed against his youth club with a goal and two assists and how Stefanos Tzimas repeatedly threatened to score in the first half. Looking at the season as a whole, however, it is also true that the club has conceded an average of two goals so far, that the team rarely develops offensive power and that the forward play often appears ill-thought out and haphazard. Can all of this really be explained by the upheaval?

Rebbe, he makes it clear in the conversation, has a different view of things. For him the glass is three quarters full. Ten points after the first eight games: He could live with that very well, says Nuremberg’s sports director and then emphasizes who the club is actually competing with in the lower house of the Bundesliga: “We are in a kind of fight for survival.” That’s a cheap word, but on In the end, the second division is a competition with unequal silverware.” Some second division teams have an investor, some have a new stadium. The 1. FCN has neither one nor the other, but still has to get through somehow and relies on young players. A path in which setbacks are priced in. But that is difficult to convey in Nuremberg, says Rebbe.

Basically, he won’t talk about the environment anyway, but rather about the players. Something about Jander, who Klose highlighted on Saturday. The 21-year-old midfielder, who came from third division relegated MSV Duisburg, is “a fantastic player” who could stand “next to an ICE” and still be “totally relaxed”. “He’s like that on the football field,” praised Klose and even said: “I couldn’t be happier that I have a player like that in my ranks.”

With his calmness, his ball skills and his presence, Jander shaped the game and fueled Nuremberg’s hopes that everything could still be improved this season. But for that to happen, the plant has to continue to grow. And the best way to do that is for the club to get their next win after the international break. Then the opponent is: SpVgg Greuther Fürth.