Coach Lukas Kwasniok of 1. FC Cologne has taken recent reports of a tense atmosphere at the club as an opportunity to launch a broadside of criticism.

The overall view of Bundesliga clubs is negative, Kwasniok said at a press conference ahead of the match against SC Freiburg (Sunday, 5:30 p.m./DAZN). “Where is it positive?” he asked. “Except for Bayern, everything is written down. From second place down, it’s all bottomless.“

This has led to a perception that Bayern’s rivals RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayer Leverkusen can be ”completely written off.“ From this perspective, the currently struggling Eintracht Frankfurt team is also ”virtually already relegated.” People’s expectations are so extreme that second place is no longer worth anything. That’s a flaw in the system.”

Cologne had been waiting weeks for a win from November to early January and, after a strong start to the season, had slipped closer to the relegation zone again. Before their recent 2-1 win against FSV Mainz 05, there were increasing reports of a crisis atmosphere at the club and rifts between the coach and the team. A critical poster by Cologne ultras directed at Kwasniok also caused a stir. “The mood among us was always completely fine,” Kwasniok said, “it’s only natural that two or three players are more dissatisfied when you lose more often.” However, he added that FC Köln had “been in a decent position for a newly promoted team the whole time”: “We want to stay away from the bottom of the table, and we’re on the right track, but there are still 16 match days to go.” Köln are currently in tenth place, seven points ahead of the relegation zone.