What comes after the summer break?

On Sunday 1. FC Nürnberg starts the new second division season with the home game against Erzgebirge Aue. A lot has changed during the short summer break – but the hopes are the same.

It was almost noticeably quiet this summer at the Valznerweiher. For the first time since the Bundesliga promotion in 2018, the same head coach as in the previous year led the team through the preparation. The Nuremberg summer break did not write the big stories – although there is a kind of quiet summer break behind the FCN. What has happened – and what that means for the coming season:

The staff: experience exchanged for experience

Hanno Behrens, Georg Margreitter and Lukas Mühl were three names that have given the FCN team a framework throughout the last few years. Their faces are inextricably linked with the rise in 2018 – but also with the chaos years afterwards. Now all three are gone. In his first full transfer period, sports director Olaf Rebbe had to replace a lot of experience in central positions. He did it: with a lot of experience.

He occupied the two places in central defense that had become vacant due to the departure of Mühl and Margreitter with the second division experienced veterans Christopher Schindler (31, from English club Huddersfield) and Florian Hübner (30, from Bundesliga club Union Berlin). Both have played over 100 second division games in their careers and know the German lower house very well.

Development ability required

Otherwise, those responsible for the summer transfer period were more likely to focus on the ability to develop. Kilian Fischer (20) could turn out to be a very interesting persona. The full-back came from the 3rd division of Türkgücü Munich and has a good chance of getting a starting eleven sooner rather than later on the right-hand side.

The other newcomers should have a harder time: Lino Tempelmann (22), on loan from SC Freiburg, has strong competition in the central midfield, Taylan Duman (23) from Borussia Dortmund’s second team missed parts of the preparation due to injury and must therefore first stand in the back – and Carl Klaus (27, came from league rivals Darmstadt) is only planned as a substitute goalkeeper.

Only a few departures

On the exit side, apart from the prominent trio Behrens / Margreitter / Mühl, it is rather manageable. Relegation hero Fabian Schleusener (29, to Karlsruhe) scored what is perhaps the most important FCN goal since Jan Kristiansen 2007, but otherwise left little impression, veteran Oliver Sorg (31, still without a club) only played second fiddle under coach Robert Klauß – as did like goalkeepers Andreas Lukse (33, for First Vienna FC) and Christian Früchtl (21, after loaning back to FC Bayern).

Regular Fabian Nürnberger (21) could go until the end of the transfer period. Should he still migrate despite the recent pledge of loyalty, Tempelmann could take over his role in midfield headquarters.

The preparation: test match successes and switching training

5: 1 against third division team Zwickau, 3: 1 against the Austrian second division side Wacker Innsbruck, 0: 0 against the Russian club FK Krasnodar and finally a 3: 2 against the 1860 Munich coached by former coach Michael Köllner – the club’s test series can to be seen quite well. And otherwise, coach Klauß was happy with the preparation. The squad got together quite early, the number of failures was limited – and the weather at the training camp in South Tyrol was good.

Robert Klauß, coach 1. FC Nürnberg: As a young coach, he faces challenges. (Source: Müller / imago images)

Klauss put a special focus on the shift game of his team – quite a weak point in the past season. The behavior after winning and losing the ball, a central factor in modern football, has to improve at the club – and Klauß seems to have recognized that. Will it also be reflected in the Max Morlock Stadium on Sunday? In any case, Klauss is convinced “that we were able to take a good step forward”.

The system question – and what happens to the hack?

The paradigm shift had already become apparent at the end of last season. Instead of 4-2-3-1 as over long periods of the season, Klauss switched to a game system with double points. And now? Everything seems to indicate that tactics expert Klauß prefers a 4-4-2 with midfield diamond or a 4-3-1-2. In the test matches he practiced different variants, but the basic orientation was similar. Klauss is an advocate of the back four anyway, with Mats Möller Daehli he has the necessary classic tens.

What is missing – at least currently – for the system are the options for the double storm. Youngster Erik Shuranov is increasingly emerging as a starting candidate. In addition, due to the injury problem that still exists in the attack, Robin Hack could initially come across. For the 22-year-old, perhaps the most talented player in the squad, the system is quite problematic.

The fast attacking man can best develop his strengths on the wing, but the role of the classic winger does not currently exist at the club. So Klauss will have to come up with something in order not to “give away” his difference player.

Conclusion: what’s in it?

The hopes for the upcoming season are not newcomers. Rather, one expects the next step at the club from home grown Shuranov, who indicated his potential at the end of the season, and from playmaker Möller Daehli in his first full season at FCN. In addition, those responsible hope that the two long-term injuries from the previous season, Felix Lohkemper and Pascal Köpke, will be able to return to their old level of performance after their return.

But there are also question marks: Is the substance sufficient in attack and on the full-back positions? Can goalkeeper Christian Mathenia reduce the number of weak games that are too high? And above all: Will Robert Klauß succeed in further development in his second year as head coach?

Big competition in the league

Much should depend on the latter question in particular. As an extremely young coach, Klauss got the trust of those responsible despite the weak phase, but now he also has to deliver and take the next step with the undoubtedly talented team. However, it is highly unlikely that this next step will be called promotion.

The league is too strong this season with the heavyweights from Bremen, Gelsenkirchen and Hamburg, plus ambitious teams such as Fortuna Düsseldorf, Holstein Kiel and FC St. Pauli. A clear improvement of the eleventh place in the table from the previous year should in any case be the yardstick by which Klauss will have to be measured. The prerequisites for this are there.

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