Union Berlin defies the "press pigs" and laws
If you make your way from Köpenick S-Bahn station to the stadium at the Alte Försterei, you will pass two musicians. They always stand there and perform old hits. "Wunder gescheh'n", they sing on this beautiful late fall Saturday afternoon. Nena's '89 hit about her son's serious illness, which was soon turned into a classic song, is supposed to bring about a turnaround after eleven consecutive defeats in competitive matches. A miracle is also needed. Because Union Berlin is down, has been stumbling from defeat to defeat for weeks and has no idea what is happening to them.
Later, on the Waldseite, the home of the hard core of Union supporters, there is a group of fans. They know who is also responsible for this season's decline and who doesn't understand the club anyway. "We don't care what the press pigs write. Urs Fischer is a Union player and should stay one," read a banner during the first half.
The press tribune is also given recommendations for action. "But don't write anything against Urs Fischer. Otherwise you'll get into trouble," says one of them, perhaps jokingly. "Write it inside: Urs Fischer Union for life." Done with this. Whenever a wagon fort needs to be formed, threats from outside are needed. The easiest and permanent one is, of course, the press. The Köpenicker fans are no different to Thomas Tuchel.
One fairytale ends, a new one begins
The story of Union Berlin in the late fall of 2023 is one that can really only be told through Fischer. The 57-year-old Swiss has led the club from Köpenick into unknown spheres over the past five years. The rise from the depths of the second division to the Champions League was the "most surreal fairytale" in recent Bundesliga history. This fairytale is now over. It is over and now a new one begins. It's about how a soccer club, and one that has always done everything differently, deals with it. The ending is still completely open, it could be unsettling.
"We would be ill-advised to send one of the best coaches in the league home," said president Dirk Zingler before the game on Sky: "He has the job, he keeps the job. Success has many fathers and failure also has many fathers." While success was of fairytale proportions, failure came upon the club like the ten plagues of God upon Egypt. The Köpenickers now have to endure twelve defeats in a row after this 0:3 (0:2) against Eintracht Frankfurt. They have not scored a goal at home since August 20, 2023. Eight of their eleven goals so far this season have come in the first two matchdays.
That's why it's no longer just about the overarching theme of Urs Fischer, but also about the simple task of staying in the league and not immediately tearing down the foundations of recent years. This has not yet got through to everyone and not all those who are aware of it realize the urgency of this task. President Zingler is leading the way. For him, the situation is threatening. "We have to keep the club in the Bundesliga," he says and adds something crucial: "With Urs Fischer."
Down the Wuhle again against Frankfurt
Stadium announcer Christian Arbeit takes a break before the game. He has just called out the soccer gods of Union Berlin one by one, now it's the coach's turn. He remains silent. The stadium at the Alte Försterei rises to its feet. Applauding. Louder. Louder and louder. Until Arbeit speaks the name after all. Urs Fischer. "God of soccer," it echoes back to him.
"Great, it also describes the cohesion of Union. It's not just talked about, it's lived," says Fischer after the game, taking the wind out of the sails of speculation about his possible retirement on ARD. "I'm ready to fight," he says. After an ultimately botched summer of transfers, in which three stars - Leonardo Bonucci, Kevin Volland and Robin Gosens - were signed in the final days of the transfer period, this is now the last chance. The trio are still a long way from arriving in Köpenick, and it remains questionable whether they will really succeed.
In the first half, the game against Frankfurt has a dynamic that is capable of flushing Fischer out of office despite all his deeply credible declarations of loyalty. After two minutes, a free-kick cross flicks back and forth briefly in the Union penalty area before Omar Marmoush slots in from eleven meters, unchallenged by the blocked pinball finger of Alex Kral. The familiar mistakes of this season then became apparent. Time and time again, the visitors break through on the wing, Union have eight men in the penalty area and try to force the ball back.
The ball doesn't want to go in the goal
They did not succeed. A simple long ball to Hugo Larsson in the 14th minute undermined the entire Berlin defense. Robin Gosens moves forward and Diogo Leite is unable to stop the 19-year-old Swede. In the middle, Marmoush is ahead of everyone and completes his brace completely unchallenged. Only moments before making it 2-0, Union had penetrated the visitors' penalty area after winning the ball deep in Frankfurt's half. Benedict Hollerbach, however, does not know what to do with the ball and loses it.
It's a helplessness that runs through Union's season. It's not that they don't get into dangerous situations. It's just that they don't play them well enough. When a ball does get through, as David Fofana did in the 19th minute on Saturday, it lands on the crossbar. Even though Fischer claims to have seen a team after the game that has identified itself with the new season goal of "avoiding relegation", there is no sign of this for a long time. Only with the substitution of international Kevin Behrens in the 56th minute did something like resistance flare up. In quick succession, first Behrens (57'), then Fofana with a turning shot (59') and again Behrens after a Laidouni cross (68') missed the follow-up goal. The ball didn't go in. No matter what they try. Frankfurt restricted themselves to defending, not needing any moments of relief.
The pressure is usually too low and Berlin's possession is too far away from the dangerous areas. The game was crying out for Frankfurt to make it 3-0 and they got it with one of the Adler's rare attacks. Gosen's erratic header back to Robin Knoche is caught by Ignacio Ferri Julia. The 19-year-old Spaniard, who had just come on as a substitute, showed that his eight goals in eleven Regionalliga games for the second team were hardly a coincidence. He combined with the equally fresh Mario Götze and slid the ball past Frederik Rönnow into the bottom left corner (82').
Köpenick is not about winners
As the game slowly moves towards the final whistle, the Frankfurt supporters shout "relegated, relegated" at their hosts, who for a moment shout their defiant chants even louder and even more fervently, like prayers, into the now dark afternoon sky. They sing about the highs and lows of their fan life. "Anyone who sees soccer as more than a clamour for victories and millions won't even think of replacing soccer union god Urs Fischer," wrote historian Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk recently in the"taz" newspaper in a declaration of love for his club. He told the story of those who have spent their lives with the club from the deep east of the once divided city.
In the years following German reunification alone, the Köpenickers have seen almost everything there is to see in soccer. This generation was there when a 1-0 draw in front of 700 spectators at Anker Wismar on May 3, 2006 jeopardized the club's promotion from the fourth-tier NOFV-Oberliga Nord and they were there when, almost exactly 17 years later, the club sensationally qualified for the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Werder Bremen at the Alte Försterei. So her story is not that of those who have always seen soccer as a game of winners. They also see the dramatic fall from grace almost as a historic moment.
Their chants and words show their defiance and pride at once again overriding the laws of soccer with Fischer. No matter what happens in the upcoming away games in Naples and Leverkusen. There is no end in sight to this incredible run. The miracle sung about in front of the stadium is the following: With the Swiss, things went up and with him, if they have to, they will go down again. No matter what the "press pigs" write - and as long as Urs Fischer still wants to.
Source: www.ntv.de
