Offenbach – Fabian Bäcker associates many memories with Kickers Offenbach, “beautiful and ugly”. On Saturday (2 p.m.) he will face the OFC as coach of FC Bayern Alzenau, with whom he won the 2015 title in the Southwest Regional Football League.
Fabian Bäcker, FC Bayern Alzenau returns to the regional league southwest after two weeks of quarantine. Have all ten affected people survived the corona infection?
No, an affected person is still positive after two weeks. Everyone else will be back in training later this week. We had the full spectrum with us: four guys were doing really badly, three had a slight cold and three others didn’t notice anything.
Who do you expect against Kickers Offenbach on Saturday?
We’re going to send eleven healthy, fit players onto the field. Who that will be cannot yet be foreseen.
How long have you been able to train again at all?
At home in Rhein-Main since the OFC times: Fabian Bäcker
Fabian Bäcker, born on May 28, 1990 in Rotenburg / Fulda, made his home in the Rhine-Main area. The former youth national player, who played two Bundesliga games (1 goal) for Borussia Mönchengladbach and a second division game for Alemannia Aachen, joined the third division Kickers Offenbach in 2012. After 91 competitive games (17 goals), he moved to Alzenau in the Hessen League in 2016, then to Germania Ober-Roden in the Association League. He has been a trainer there since June 2019. He is on loan to Alzenau until the summer, where he succeeded Artur Lemm with a special permit. Bäcker is a self-employed Allianz representative; as part of his move in 2016, he completed retraining at the insurance agency from Andreas Trageser, Chairman of FC Bayern, and completed it in 2018. He is married with two children. jm
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We trained again for the first time on Monday, it was more of a sweat to see how resilient the players concerned are. We’ll see what has been lost in substance this week. One thing is clear: we have to get back into competition mode, but the players are also not allowed to lose anything for their lives.
The teams are tested, the hygiene rules are known, but such outbreaks do occur – as recently at FSV Frankfurt, Stadtallendorf or now at FC Bayern. Do you have an explanation for this?
We have done everything possible to protect ourselves. We immediately isolated the suspected cases in the training week before the game at FSV Mainz 05 II and carried out tests. But once the virus, and the British mutant at that, is inside, there is no stopping it. We were then only able to limit the damage and are glad that there were only ten cases.
Outline the catalog of measures after the outbreak.
The cases are all reported to the health department, the suspected cases have been confirmed by PCR tests. Then the health department shut everything down. Everyone had to be in quarantine, they were only allowed out again for a test. Then you sit at home and hope that you don’t infect the family yet. I was lucky myself: I was banned from Aalen in Mainz after my yellow-red card, so I was only affected as a contact person.
You have players who have a job or are studying. How much of a burden is such a compulsory break?
There were different fates. A player was not allowed to take his exam at the university and will have to take it again in six months. Another had infected family members, so that as a result even a daycare center had to close.
How much has the quarantine period set Alzenau back?
We’ll see that yet. In terms of sport, the game in Mainz was the best under my direction, we could have won there and I would have liked to continue. The outbreak will have an impact in terms of personnel alone. It remains to be seen whether all players can get through the coming weeks.
And now comes Kickers Offenbach, a duel that was always extremely explosive in the end. Is FC Bayern ready for this task?
When Kickers Offenbach comes, it’s always the game of the year. Either way. You have to be ready. You no longer have to motivate externally. But one thing is clear: Offenbach is the favorite. We take on the outsider role. So we’ll have eleven motivated people in the starting line-up, and even more motivated ones on the bench.
For you it is a reunion with your last professional club. Do you have any special memories?
Yes, a lot. Beautiful and unsightly. There was relegation in the 3rd division (2013), forced relegation, the bankruptcy phase. In addition, the games in the DFB Cup, the missed promotion (2015), my serious knee injury. There is still a special connection with the fans, it’s a shame that they can’t be there on Saturday.
You were part of the 2015 championship team. This year the OFC is making another attempt to return to the 3rd division. What chances do you give the kickers?
It has become a little easier since the promotion relegation no longer exists and a club is safely promoted. On the other hand, there are some ambitious clubs in Freiburg, Steinbach, Ulm and Offenbach. I think there will be a heartbeat finale.
You yourself are a temporary (temporary) trainer in Alzenau and are on loan from Germania Ober-Roden. What is your conclusion after the first few weeks?
Basically, it’s a lot of fun in the training group to work with young, hungry talent. In Alzenau there is potential to get more points. There are concrete arguments that things will soon be much better.
Which are they?
In three out of four games we were the better, more active and more dangerous team for long stretches of the game. So there is not much missing to win games. And if we manage to turn a tight game in our direction, that gives a new impetus. But one thing is clear: If you haven’t won since the end of December (editor’s note: 1-0 at the front-runner SC Freiburg II on December 22nd), then that gnaws at the players, especially among the younger ones. And we have a very young team. In Mainz we had a younger team than the FSV reserve on the pitch.
There are now nine competitive games and three English weeks in a row by the end of April. A program that only FC Bayern can actually manage, right?
Actually yes (laughs), but it’s no use. It was clear that this could happen. So we have to make the most of it. In half a year no one will care that we had to play nine games in 29 days.
Alzenau has been without a win for ten games. The gap to the first non-relegation place is 11 points. That is the balance of a relegated person.
The bare numbers don’t speak for us. But I know how fast it can turn. It is not impossible. But I’m not even looking at the table at the moment. We have to start scoring again first.
What would relegation mean for Alzenau?
That wouldn’t have that big an impact. Not much would change in the structures. The association is financially solid. The concept is, yes, to bring regional talents who have not made it further elsewhere. There just wouldn’t be such highlight games as against Offenbach.
Are you happy to be returning to Germania this summer?
I have to say: I really enjoy being in Alzenau. The coaching team with Birger Nass and Murat Kurtulus supports me totally. But I’m also looking forward to the more normal everyday life with ambitious association football. In the long run, this is easier to cope with with work and family.
Finally, the question: What has to happen in order for you to leave the field satisfied against Offenbach on Saturday?
If we get at least one point. In the end, only points help us.
The interview was conducted by Jörg Moll
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