Union Berlin has taken a big step. The step from the surprise to the top team.
42 points after 20 days of play, first Bayern hunter and also unstoppable by RB Leipzig. All no coincidence. Former Union star Max Kruse has STAHLWERK double pass on SPORTS1 explains in detail what makes the iron so special. (NEWS: All current information about the Bundesliga)
“Union will not disturb anything. I think it’s also Union’s strength: No player is above the club, no player earns five million euros a year,” said the currently unemployed kicker, who played in Berlin for a year and a half.
“What defines Union is this calm – but also this fun factor. It sounds strange, but it’s like you’re going to a district league game,” Kruse explained: “There may not be beer, but the atmosphere is like that. You have a lot of fun in the team, in the dressing room.”
Coach Urs Fischer also played a decisive part in the current high: The calm that he radiates “is also transferred to the players and the club. It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose a game, the process is always the same.” While Bayern declared a crisis after three draws in a row, Union simply stayed true to themselves. (DATA: Bundesliga schedule)
This could also be observed on Saturday in the 2-1 away win, when the Irons stuck to their style of play even after falling behind. “That’s also the big plus: Everyone in the team knows what they have to do. And everyone knows what they have to do when they are in a different position,” said Kruse.
Of course, Union is not immune to setbacks either. But: The compactness, the community on and off the pitch is unique: “You get there and everyone is just like the other. It doesn’t matter if you played before, what club you played for. They go to dinner in groups of six, seven, eight. That simply doesn’t exist in other clubs.”
And the capital club also stands out in training: “It’s no coincidence that Union has such good standards. This is rehearsed every week. That too is a great advantage that Union has. I don’t know if that’s practiced as intensively in other clubs as it is at Union.”
He only got to know a similar approach at Freiburg.
In addition: “I think eleven against eleven train three or four times a week. They know what they can do. It is a counter team that is very defensive with fast players up front. They train that too. In training, seven or eight balls are played behind the chain,” Kruse explained.
Union on top – all no coincidence.
