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You can rely on him: Captain Talha Aricioglu (right) played twelve of 16 games for the 93 reserves and is one of the few constants in the team. Archive © Scheiber
The lack of exploitation of opportunities, lack of fitness and also the support from the Hessenliga team that could be improved: Hanau-93-II player-coach Julian Quantz’s first-round balance sheet reveals a neat list of deficiencies. No wonder, after all, the Hanau team are in last place in the Hanau regional football district league with just seven points.
Born – “The bad thing is, sometimes we are actually the better team in terms of play, but in the end we have to be annoyed because we don’t score the goals,” complains Quantz, who joined the 93ers from Marköbel in the summer. Especially against opponents within reach of the table, his eleven lose points, as was the case recently in the 3:4 defeat in Hochstadt or in the 1:2 against Großauheim.
Even at the start of the season in Langen-Bergheim, 93 II more than held its own for a half, going into the break 0-0 only to go home with a score of 0-5. At the start of the second half of the season, the Hanauers should take revenge on Sunday (3 p.m.), otherwise the KSV, second to last, will extend their current five-point lead.
It was clear to Julian Quantz from the start that he would have to fight with the Hessenliga reserves of the 93ers to stay in the league. “I knew that the strongest players had actually left and I already thought that it wouldn’t be easy,” explains the 35-year-old, who openly attests that his regular squad is only at A-League level.
In addition, there is poor training participation, including a corresponding lack of fitness – and quantity problems, as the support from the first team is less compared to previous years. This is also confirmed by Adolfo Alonso, second chairman of the HFC, who raises concerns that the Hessenliga squad is also less well-stocked overall.
“I’m a bit disappointed that the first team players, when they play for us, either don’t stand out or don’t perform as well as they normally do in the Hessenliga,” criticizes Quantz, who nevertheless has a good relationship with the Hessenliga coach Kreso Ljubicic speaks and can also understand his squad problems.
And in the most dire need – as was the case recently against SG Marköbel – the player-coach can also rely on “two old men who are sacrificing their Sunday,” as Alonso smugly remarks. Finally, the 40-year-old 93 youth coach Kürsat Kantas and himself laced up their kicking shoes to help out. “I’m lucky that I can still move around somewhat. “I like playing football and try to set a good example for the boys,” says the second chairman about his commitment, but emphasizes: “It shouldn’t be a permanent solution that I’m still running around on the pitch at the age of 52.”
Julian Quantz, who himself would like to experience a game from the sidelines instead of from the six, can only take his hat off: “Adi does it because there really is no one else there. He would prefer to watch it from outside. That’s why you can just say thank you and be happy that he’s there.”
Quantz also describes the mood in the team as positive because of missions like Alonso’s: “The boys are holding their own, but still fighting. That’s the positive thing I see, that they don’t hang their heads and say ‘hey, the season is completely lost now.’ We still have a whole second half of the season to get points and I’m quite optimistic that we’ll get a few more points.”
The second team also doesn’t have to fear pressure from the club’s management. “So the team has no pressure at all. That would be complete nonsense. Of course we want to stay in class, otherwise the gap to the first team will be huge. But there is no pressure,” says Alonso.
He also looks forward to the relegation battle against Langen-Bergheim with a similarly relaxed attitude. “When the last guy plays against the second-to-last guy, you can’t expect the best football. “It’s going to be a fighting game,” says the 52-year-old, who can actually leave his kicking shoes at home this time. After all, the first team plays in Friedberg on Saturday, which is why player-coach Julian Quantz can count on one or two Hessenliga players for the KOL relegation battle on Sunday.
By Lennart Nickel
Julian Quantz © –
