The new trainer Sreto Ristic should give the ambitious Offenbacher kickers support and finally heave them to the top.
Sreto Ristic, who has been a trainer at Kickers Offenbach for a week, has not yet gotten used to the size of his new employer, yes, it makes him respect. “When you drive up here,” he was recently amazed, “you can see straight away that this has nothing to do with the Regionalliga. That can scare and overwhelm you. ”The Kickers are“ a huge club ”. But of course that doesn’t overwhelm him and he isn’t afraid either. He says, “I’m here to win games.”
Recently, the traditionally ambitious OFC succeeded less well, against Aalen (0: 2) and Balingen (0: 1) there were unexpected bitter defeats, in the most recent friendship kick against Sonnenhof Großaspach there was only a 3: 0 lead after their own 3-0 lead. 3, but there was a reason to surprisingly replace coach Angelo Barletta.
By the way, OFC managing director Thomas Sobotzik has had Ristic’s eye for a long time, both of them know each other from common times at Chemnitzer FC, in November 2019 the ex-Eintrachtler had carefully felt at Ristic. The timing was not right, said Sobotzik, Ristic had just started his training as a football teacher at the time, so the choice fell on Barletta. The course in Serbia has not yet been completed due to the pandemic, and Ristic has yet to take the final exam in his country of birth. Nevertheless, the 44-year-old feels up to the task at OFC.
And that is big enough: If that has nothing to do with the Regionalliga and Barletta was released from fourth in the table, the goal for this season can actually only be the jump to the third division, with currently four points behind in first place. And even if Sobotzik is noticeably trying to take the pressure off the boiler, President Joachim Wagner has made it clear between the lines: This season there is no over-team, and the OFC squad is top-notch in all positions, so you should ” absolutely seize the opportunity that presents itself ”.
And Ristic should tease out the last percentage points required for this from the team. “It’s almost like a lemon from which you squeeze everything,” says the managing director. Barletta was no longer trusted to do that and exchanged him. The newcomer brings a “natural authority” as well as “passion and emotionality, which is very important in Offenbach,” says Sobotzik. But he lacks one thing: experience as a head coach. So far, Ristic has only been an assistant coach in the regional league and third division, most recently only a scout. He himself emphasized that he had not conducted any training for about half a year.
“Sreto is an absolute professional and a personality. In the last few years he was very often the brain behind the respective head coach in various constellations, ”Sobotzik praised. Ristic “designed detailed tactical strategies and conveyed them to the respective team”. The native Serb, who has the Trainer A license, came to Germany in 1991. For VfB Stuttgart he played 47 times in the Bundesliga and scored five goals. Other stations included Union Berlin and SSV Ulm (together 95 second division games / 26 goals). Later he was assistant coach at the Stuttgarter Kickers, Preußen Münster and the Chemnitzer FC (each third division) – among other things under experienced bosses like Benno Möhlmann and Horst Steffen.
Ristic leveraged
However, the three-year plan, which provides for promotion by 2022 at the latest, should not be shaken. Sobotzik knows, of course, that it is a daring plan and that his work is also measured by whether Ristic will be more successful than Barletta. “Changing coaches during the season is always a big risk,” said Sobotzik. Ristic should give the team a “stronger hold”. The new coach has a clear idea of the future style of play: “We want to be active, have a lot of possession and control the game.”
What is astonishing, however, is that the economically clumsy OFC is demanding more financial help from the federal and state governments, and has renounced short-time work, but still has the obligation of a new coaching team (with Ristic came his assistant coach Marijan Kovacevic) and an inflated squad of 29 professionals . In addition, Leon Schneider should come from 1. FC Cologne. The team around the team is by no means small, including not only the head coach and his assistant, but also Scout Ramon Berndroth, goalkeeping coach Rene Keffel and team manager Bernd Winter. According to information from the “Offenbach-Post”, Ristic and Kovacevic are to be financed from outside until the end of the round, the contracts of Barletta and his co-Dennis Bochow expire in the summer.
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