Mülheim-based club FC 97 is in the relegation battle of the Oberliga Niederrhein. The MFC has only managed three wins so far.

2-1 against 1. FC Kleve, 3-2 against TVD Velbert and 2-0 against SC Union Nettetal: That’s it for the wins in the 2024/2025 season. Three wins in 13 games: that’s a bit poor. Ahmet Inal, coach of Mülheimer FC 97, is well aware of this.

After the recent 2-3 loss to SV Sonsbeck, the former professional told Forecasting: “Once again, I can only blame the guys very little. We have everything we need, play really well, run our lungs out and end up empty-handed. Why? It’s simple: we have a lot of scoring chances that we don’t take and the opponent gets forward and scores.”

The former striker, who also played in Turkey, seems to be slowly despairing of his players’ wastefulness. However, he does not want to admit that it is a question of quality. “No! It’s got nothing to do with quality. On the contrary: we have great quality in the squad, we just keep getting punished. Against Sonsbeck, we sleep at set pieces. That has nothing to do with quality, but much more to do with concentration,” emphasizes Inal.

We are a very unpleasant team. You don’t like to play against us. Maybe encounters like against the top teams are just right. We have nothing to lose.

Ahmet Inal

But Inal continues to be combative. After all, the MFC is still above the line. “13 games, twelve points: that’s not a good return. But it’s enough at the moment. Now there are five more matches before the end of the year, in which we want to surprise. Because except for the game against Kleve, we will be the underdog in every game, at least on paper,” he says.

Of course: at SSVg Velbert, at home against VfB Hilden and Germania Ratingen, at SC St. Tönis and at 1. FC Kleve: a difficult program that awaits the Mülheimers until Christmas. “We are a very unpleasant team. You don’t want to play against us. So maybe encounters like against the top teams will come at just the right time. We have nothing to lose,” says 42-year-old Inal.