To date, Rot-Weiss Essen has had a worrying season for fans and sponsors alike. There are problems on many levels. An analysis.

After barely avoiding relegation in year one after the longed-for promotion to the 3rd division, Rot-Weiss Essen followed up with a brilliant sprint in year two, which almost ended in the 2nd Bundesliga or at least in the relegation play-offs for it. In the end, RWE finished in an excellent seventh place in the table.

It is clear that dreams were then hatched in the surrounding area for the third season in the 3rd division after more than a decade without professional football. Football fans can and should dream. But those in charge cannot.

And that brings us to construction site 01 of a total of 07, which forecasting calls “analysis” in the RWE analysis.

Construction site 01: squad planning

RWE received a lot of rejections on the market. To name just a few players who turned down Red-White and chose another club: Kaan Caliskaner (went from Eintracht Braunschweig to Motor Lublin in Poland), Torge Paetow (SC Verl – Preußen Münster), Jakob Lewald ( Dynamo Dresden – SV Sandhausen), Julian Kania (1. FC Nürnberg – Arminia Bielefeld), Antonio Foti (Eintracht Frankfurt – Borussia Dortmund II) or Lex-Tyger Lobinger (1. FC Kaiserslautern – Viktoria Köln).

That’s six players that RS knows that RWE courted and desperately wanted to lure to Hafenstraße. In other words, in the end, Plan A hardly worked out for RWE – only in the cases of Michael Schultz and Ahmet Arslan were the absolute dream players signed.

But the truth is also: Ramien Safi chose RWE over offers from Alemannia Aachen and Arminia Bielefeld that were ready to be signed.

But getting only two or three dream players in a summer transfer window is a bit meager. RWE had to resort to Plan B too often in its squad planning because Plan A could not be realized. And yet: Director of Professional Football Marcus Steegmann and Sports Director Christian Flüthmann have certainly not done a bad job. According to our information, the duo had to fight for an increase in the budget for squad planning for a long time. It even got so bad that there was email traffic between the sporting management and board member Alexander Rang. In the end, the budget for the professionals was slightly increased after all, as Essen’s CEO Marc-Nicolai Pfeifer confirmed in an interview with this editorial team.

Problem area 02: No replacement found for Götze, Sapina and Obuz

Anyone who thought that the departures of Felix Götze, Vinko Sapina and Marvin Obuz would not hurt is currently being proven wrong. Finding a replacement is one thing, but making sure that replacement works is another. At first glance, players like Schultz, Arslan and Boyamba or Safi seem to be able to keep up with the departures mentioned. But that may only be the case at first glance. Because RWE currently has no axis. Golz – Götze – Sapina – Obuz: that was the RWE axis of the past.

Currently, Jakob Golz is doing his job, then there is a gap, then Arslan comes and then there is nothing to be seen again. Players like Schultz or Kraulich perform with ups and downs. Even a José-Enrique Rios Alonso is hardly recognizable. The reason: he needs a perfect teammate at his side to lead him – just like Götze did.

RWE sorely miss the 21 scoring points (seven goals, 14 assists) of Obuz. Eight players were involved in the 15 goals scored so far. Sure, some will say that’s a good thing because it makes RWE less predictable. But it’s also a fact that every good team actually needs a goal scorer, top scorer or difference maker. This is currently not the case at RWE, only with Arslan, to a limited extent.

Vinko Sapina: What a celebration this departure was on social media. 250,000 euros for the RWE captain. A good deal, it was said from many sides. But now even those voices that are well-disposed towards RWE will have to admit: there is no successor for Sapina! These footsteps are still too big for Jimmy Kaparos. He, Arslan or Torben Müsel tend to be more offensive in their play. The defense is neglected and so there is a gap between midfield and defense. Sapina was the perfect sweeper, the engine that set the pace of the game and had everything in view. Of course, he also had his weak phase and struggled with his knee. But ultimately, he was the brains and the guiding force in the RWE game. This is not currently available in this form in Christoph Dabrowski’s team.

And, not to be neglected: Sapina kept the RWE cabin clean. The Croatian was the boss in the house. His word carried weight. He also took care of his fellow countryman Leonardo Vonic, giving him a verbal kick in the backside when necessary. Even the cool Vonic respected Sapina’s authority and ultimately had a good season, scoring nine goals and providing six assists in 35 third-division games.

Problem area 03: Hafenstraße

Last season, Rot-Weiss Essen was one of the best home teams in the 3rd division. This season, however, it looks different: two wins, one draw, three defeats. As a result, RWE is one of the four worst home teams.

On average, over 15,000 fans come to the stadium on Hafenstrasse for the games. It has always been said that this place in Bergeborbeck is a very special one, that it is difficult to survive in Essen. But this myth has long since vanished. Even a SC Verl, without wanting to offend the East Westphalians, comes to Hafenstrasse and wins 3:1.

Hardly any third division team is impressed by the Hafenstrasse backdrop. And that’s where the problem lies: the players have to take the lead and show the opponent in the dressing room that this is a very special place. Then comes the appearance on the pitch and finally in the stands. The team and fans have to play one-two again and revive the Hafenstrasse myth peu-á-peu. RWE already proved last season that this is possible.