Kickers Offenbach can hibernate at the top of the regional soccer league.
(CD). It’s a situation that hardly anyone at Kickers Offenbach would have thought possible at the end of September. At that time, the OFC was only tenth in the table in the Regionalliga Südwest – seven points behind on first place. Now, eleven weeks later, coach Sreto Ristic’s team is at the top and it is up to them to go into the winter break and into 2022 as the frontrunners. That is clear since the 0-1 defeat of Mainz 05 II on Tuesday at TSV Steinbach Haiger.
The hunted has become the hunted from the apparently beaten hunter. This not only has advantages, but Thomas Sobotzik is nevertheless pleased. “This table situation is of course more pleasant,” admits the OFC managing director. The latest high-altitude flight is “somehow logical,” says Sobotzik, given the strong yield of ten wins from the last eleven games. The leap to the top was only possible because the competitors got fewer points at the same time. “They lose their breath because they play against each other and against us,” says the 47-year-old, referring to the recent accumulation of top games. And in those the OFC has so far the best record – in contrast to the previous round.
Sobotzik doesn’t see this as the main reason why the Kickers are now at the top. The points average of the coach Sreto Ristic, who signed on a little more than a year ago, would have been enough to win the championship and thus to promotion last season, the ex-professional notes. Now the broader squad is added. Sobotzik is certain: »We would not have survived the number of failures we have now endured last season. We now have more options to compensate for something like that. We have real alternatives, guys who just take on the role or who make sure that we have even improved there. «That sounds like bright prospects, but the OFC managers leave the dreaming to the fans, some of whom are already from the 3rd division talk.
According to Sobotzik, he has definitely noticed a change in the environment. He doesn’t like to rate it, but emphasizes: »After the defeat against Schott Mainz we were written off, now you sometimes have the feeling that we’ve already been promoted. That’s the other extreme. ”Sobotzik also prefers a factual view and approach. If the Kickers went into the winter break with a four-point lead in the top game on Saturday (2pm) in Ulm, they would still have “still not achieved anything”. In any case, the table picture in a 19-player league, in which one team is always free of play, is “always falsified”. And against direct competitors (Ulm, Mainz 05 II, Steinbach) you still have to compete in the rest of the season.
Sobotzik makes it clear that he does not want to convulsively keep expectations low with such statements: “We do this out of conviction and experience.” Anything else is not helpful. “We have to internalize that every game in this league is on the brink.” Even with high victories, like the 6-1 in Balingen, there were phases in which the game could have tipped over. »The league has become much stronger than last season, not just at the top. There is no real midfield and no one who ends up being beaten. It is therefore good not to see yourself above things. Everything is unpredictable. “
For example, the kickers are currently concerned with the condition of the training grounds, reports Sobotzik. These are getting worse every day. It is “very difficult”. On Tuesday, Tunay Deniz slipped away and injured his ankle. However, the managing director hopes that he will be available in Ulm on Saturday. Regardless of the outcome of the game, they have a clear goal for the rest of the season: “We want it to stay the way it has been for a year: That we are disgusting to play and hard to beat.” If that succeeds, the chances are there good that the OFC is also in the end first.
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