Coach Lukas Kwasniok of 1. FC Köln has used recent reports of a tense atmosphere at the club as an opportunity to voice broad criticism.

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

As a result, there’s a perception that Bayern’s challengers—RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayer Leverkusen—can be “completely written off.” From this perspective, Eintracht Frankfurt’s team, currently in crisis, is also “practically 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 through early January and, after a strong start to the season, had slipped closer to the relegation zone again. Before their most recent victory against FSV Mainz 05 (2–1), reports were mounting about a crisis atmosphere at the club and rifts between the coach and the team. A critical banner from the Cologne ultras, directed at Kwasniok, also caused a stir.

“The mood among us has always been perfectly fine,” Kwasniok said now, “it’s only natural that two or three players are more dissatisfied when you lose more often.” However, he added that FC Cologne had been “in a decent position the whole time for a team that just got promoted”: “We want to stay away from the bottom of the table, and we’re on the right track, but there are still 16 matchdays to go.” Cologne is in tenth place and has a seven-point lead over the relegation spot.