Rot-Weiss Essen has established itself in the top half of the table after six match days. RWE can currently be satisfied with the development of the team.

Already on Friday, Christoph Dabrowski, head coach of Rot-Weiss Essen, announced good news from the RWE hospital.

Key players Andreas Wiegel and Vinko Sapina, both of whom had been struggling with muscular problems during the training week, reported fit in time for the home match against SSV Jahn Regensburg and were able to start from the beginning.

Dabrowski made two changes to his starting line-up compared to the 2-0 away win at SC Freiburg’s U23 before the international break. The injured Thomas Eisfeld was replaced by Marvin Obuz on the left and Ron Berlinski was preferred to Moussa Doumbouya in the centre of attack.

Although RWE failed to score in the subsequent 0-0 draw against Regensburg, the decisions were correct. Obuz played his best game in an Essen shirt and was a constant asset, and Berlinski also performed well – even if he failed to score the first goal of the season he had hoped for.

In the centre of midfield, Dabrowski opted for an attacking approach – as he had done against Münster and in Freiburg – and fielded three players with strong playmaking ability in Vinko Sapina, Torben Müsel and Cedric Harenbrock. The Essen football coach dispensed with a classical goalkeeper like Björn Rother and set a clear course with this courageous approach – and an offensive one at that.

It was the right decision. In recent months or even years, RWE have rarely played as strongly as they did in this first half. Lots of possession, lots of dominance and good combinations.

The three of us in midfield already play a bit together and know what makes each other tick. I think we’re already relatively well coordinated.

Torben Müsel

Midfielder Müsel praised the interplay with his team-mates when asked about it by Forecasting: “The three of us in midfield already play a bit together and know what makes each other tick. I think we are already relatively well coordinated. We know what our movements are and whether the person next to us would rather have the ball in his foot or in his run.”

So the plan worked, but what was missing was the result. Although Essen had a clear advantage in chances, there were too few clear opportunities for the dominant style of play. A chance to do better in the attacking third comes next Sunday (24 September, 1.30 p.m.) with an away game at the strong promoted SSV Ulm.