1. FC Köln remains top of the table in the A-Junioren Bundesliga West. Coach Stefan Ruthenbeck spoke afterwards about his team’s standing and joined in the mode criticism.

1. FC Köln have consolidated their lead in the A-Junioren Bundesliga West. On Saturday (03 September), they defeated VfL Bochum 5:2. This means that the Cologne team has won all four games of the still young season and currently has the full points tally.

For Stefan Ruthenbeck, the coach of 1. FC Köln, the league lead is “a nice snapshot”. He particularly likes the mentality of his team. “In the 89th minute, they were still pressing, the guys who come in work immediately and the guys who come out are bitchy because they came out. They have an incredible amount of greed, I like that very much,” Ruthenbeck is enthusiastic. Despite the good start to the season, he still sees room for improvement in some areas: “We need to defend even more clearly in the box. We also have to manage to calm down the game and have longer periods of possession and not just come through the transition game. “

Ruthenbeck joins in the criticism of the mode

Some coaches of the U19 Bundesliga teams had already criticised the mode of this year’s season, in which each team meets only once, to RS. Ruthenbeck also joins his colleagues and emphasises the importance of a first and second round: “After only one game, you can’t compensate for anything or regulate anything. Because you can then simply rediscover development patterns for yourself, a first leg and a second leg are great. There is no such thing this season. You don’t see in the second leg whether there has been a development.” This is also important for the progress of the players.

The good start has not changed the goal for this season. “We want to try to stay at the top for as long as possible, but we know about the competition with Schalke, Dortmund and Leverkusen. If you have a series like the one we’re having now, then maybe you can have hope that it will somehow work out upwards. But the primary goal is to develop the players for our first team and our U21s,” Ruthenbeck emphasises.

Since Borussia Dortmund played out a 2-2 draw against SC Verl, 1. FC Köln is now two points ahead of the Black and Yellows in first place. The next match for the young Geißböcke is the A-Juniors DFB-Pokal against Rot-Weiss Essen. In the league, however, there is a break for the time being. The fifth matchday is scheduled for the beginning of October, when the Cologne team will face the U19s of Rot-Weiss Oberhausen.