Schweinsteiger learns a painful lesson in Osnabrück
Tobias Schweinsteiger and VfL Osnabrück are promoted from the 3rd division at the last minute, while the euphoria in the 2nd division has already faded after 13 match days. The purple-and-whites parted ways with their successful coach, much to the displeasure of the fans. Schweinsteiger gives an insight into his thoughts on his departure.
On the evening of his dismissal as coach of VfL Osnabrück, Tobias Schweinsteiger had reason to celebrate. What sounds paradoxical can be explained quite simply: His father Alfred had invited him to his 70th birthday party, so the party mood had nothing to do with his dismissal from the second division soccer club. On the way from Lower Saxony to Upper Bavaria, the 41-year-old also had the opportunity to reflect on the day's events and gain initial insights from them.
"I know the business and I know how quickly moods change when success doesn't materialize," said Schweinsteiger when asked by the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" how disappointed he was about the dismissal. "I'm disappointed about the league position," he says and then talks about the avoidable 3-2 defeat in Braunschweig in his last game as VfL coach, in which the decisive goal was scored after 98 minutes. He is also still annoyed about the previous 1:1 at home to Kiel, when the Purple & Whites let the lead slip in the 4th minute of stoppage time. That the traditional club parted company with him after the resulting fall to 18th place? "I don't blame anyone for that."
That's a remarkable sentence, and there were several of them in the interview with NOZ. Like the one in which Schweinsteiger formulates one of the lessons that his first stint as head coach taught him. "That you point out even more when there is a lack of quality in the squad." He explicitly mentions both sporting quality and leadership strength as areas in which he has recognized a need for action. The older brother of FC Bayern icon Bastian is thus picking up on a discussion that has really taken off around VfL since his resignation: Is this team in its current composition even good enough to survive in the 2nd Bundesliga?
Desired players "either too expensive" or "difficult characters"
Sven Köhler, the emotional leader of the promoted team, moved to Denmark in the summer, leaving a huge gap in central midfield. Top scorer Ba-Muaka "Chance" Simakala joined Holstein Kiel with 19 goals and 9 assists to his name, while Osnabrück-born Omar Traoré now plays full-back for Bundesliga newcomers 1. FC Heidenheim. Club legend Marc Heider ended his professional career shortly after his 37th birthday. The striker now works as a trainee in the office and, as playing co-trainer of Sportfreunde Lotte, has scored 10 goals in 14 games to ensure that the former third-division club is at the top of the table in the fifth-tier Oberliga Westfalen.
This contrasts with a comparatively unspectacular list of new signings. In Charalambos Makridis, Maximilian Thalhammer, Bashkim Ajdini and Oumar Diakhité, a total of four professionals came from relegated Regensburg and Sandhausen. In addition, Kwasi Okyere "Otschi" Wriedt (Kiel) and John Verhoek (Rostock), two strikers with a combined five goals, whose roles had probably shrunk over the course of the season. Dave Gnaase (Saarbrücken) played 169 minutes in the second division, Lars Kehl (Freiburg II) not a single one. Although Christian Conteh came from Dutch champions Feyenoord Rotterdam on paper, he had spent the previous season with Dynamo Dresden in League 3.
Schweinsteiger must have had all of these names in mind when he told the NOZ that staying in the league was an "extremely ambitious goal" even before the start of the season. Why didn't he push harder for stronger, perhaps even better-known new signings or even publicly point out the shortcomings? In the summer of 2022, for example, VfL surprised everyone by signing Robert Tesche, who had experience of playing in the European Cup. Despite his 35 years, Tesche immediately established himself as a top performer and leading player in the third division. "I wouldn't do that because I want to be loyal."
Schweinsteiger a victim of his own success?
Although he had expressed wishes, these were "either too expensive" or were characters that were considered "difficult". Sporting director Amir Shapourzadeh then presented one such supposedly difficult character on the last day of the transfer period: Michaël Cuisance, 2020 Champions League winner with FC Bayern without appearing, arrived on loan from Italian second division club FC Venezia. Alongside goalkeeper Lennart Grill, the Frenchman is the only new signing to have established himself as an undisputed regular. On loan from 1. FC Union Berlin, Grill has replaced promotion hero and fan favorite Philipp Kühn as number one, who is always celebrated with chants from the east curve of the Bremer Brücke at home when he scores a goal.
Sports director Amir Shapourzadeh, who became the focus of (fan) criticism following Schweinsteiger's dismissal, is primarily responsible for putting together the squad. Despite the sporting crisis, Schweinsteiger was very popular with the Osnabrück supporters, who responded to the separation in social media and comment columns with plenty of criticism, incomprehension and even anger. The various "thank you" posts on the VfL accounts suggest that these voices were also well received in the club's social media department.
Because Schweinsteiger, as can be read again and again in those posts, has to a certain extent become a victim of his own success. The unexpected promotion therefore fueled an attitude of entitlement that was almost impossible to live up to. In a 2nd division that has been repeatedly described as the "strongest 2nd division of all time" for years, but which has been massively upgraded this year with the Bundesliga relegations of Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC. Schweinsteiger also emphasizes "how strong the league is and how small the group of teams that are dropping down is."
"I was able to be who I am in Osnabrück"
In his just 14 months in Osnabrück, Tobias Schweinsteiger has left a lasting impression, and not just because of the huge mural that was painted on his favorite pizzeria in the Eversburg district after promotion. It was also because of the phrase "90+6", which goes back to the minute of the winning goal on the final matchday and which the 41-year-old had tattooed alongside many fans and some of the professionals. "It was a great year, and it was also a great year on a personal level," summarizes Schweinsteiger, who is not afraid to say: "I was able to be who I am in Osnabrück. That's also important to me for the future."
He remembers moments such as before the derby against Oldenburg in March, when the pitch at Bremer Brücke had to be cleared of snow at night before the game after heavy snowfall. "Shoveling a bit of snow in the middle of the night," he said at the time, adding that it was a matter of course. The 2:0 win the following day saw the stadium sold out for the first time since the end of 2019. The spirit of optimism expressed in this is still palpable, despite the dismal sporting situation. However, the dismissal of the popular coach will put this to the test.
Sporting director Shapourzadeh will also have to prove himself in the coming transfer period: VfL's parallel announcement that a new position of managing director of sport will be created alongside him is tantamount to disempowerment - and can be interpreted as an admission by the club's management that there is a lack of quality there too. Schweinsteiger, however, also revealed to the NOZ that despite the pain of the break-up, he does not need time out, "doesn't need to recover from anything", but is ready for a new challenge. Which he is likely to approach a little differently with the lessons learned from his time in Osnabrück.
After their promotion to Bundesliga 2, VfL Osnabrück struggled with a lack of quality in their squad, leading to Tobias Schweinsteiger publicly acknowledging the need for improvement in both sporting ability and leadership strength. Despite having expressed interest in stronger new signings, Schweinsteiger chose to remain loyal to the team.
In the 2022-2023 season, VfL Osnabrück found themselves competing in a strong Bundesliga 2, following the relegation of Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC. Despite this, the team struggled to perform, leading to criticism and eventual dismissal of coach Tobias Schweinsteiger.
[Soccer, VfL Osnabrück, Bundesliga 2]
Source: www.ntv.de
