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Frank Kramer among his players
Photo:
Stuart Franklin / Getty Images
Last week, Arminia Bielefeld suddenly became one of the most explosive topics in the Bundesliga.
The separation from coach Uwe Neuhaus attracted a lot of attention.
Replace the promotion coach, even though he was on the relegation spot with the league's biggest underdog?
Did you go crazy in Bielefeld?
The 0-0 draw against Union Berlin now showed that Neuhaus' dismissal was not entirely without reason.
That successor Frank Kramer has completely different ideas than his predecessor.
And that that may still not be enough to keep the club in the Bundesliga.
Neuhaus, the defensive pope
The lack of understanding for Bielefeld's change of coach stems primarily from past successes.
Neuhaus had taken over the club in the no man's land of the second division and led to promotion within a year and a half.
In the promotion season, his Bielefeld team was an all-rounder: They mastered the well-groomed structure of the game as well as the rustic defense.
The Bielefeld team scored the most goals, conceded the fewest and came first in a sovereign manner.
Neuhaus wanted to use these strengths to establish Arminia in the Bundesliga.
In essence, his style was defensively oriented: If the opponent had possession of the ball, his team could approach the opponent early, but especially against strong teams they withdrew far.
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Released in Bielefeld: Uwe Neuhaus
Photo:
Marius Becker / dpa
Even in possession of the ball, the defensive element prevailed: Bielefeld let the ball run between defenders and goalkeepers.
This should lure the opponent.
Then long balls followed striker Fabian Klos behind the stretched formation of the opponent.
No Bundesliga club hit more long balls this season than Arminia.
In the first half of the season, Bielefeld was able to score points with this style against the competition in the relegation battle.
In the end, the team seemed to implement the instructions of the coaching team only half-heartedly.
The defense revealed gaps, in the build-up game the team made some blatant mistakes.
Although the entire tactic was geared towards stability, Bielefeld conceded an average of two goals per game in the calendar year 2021.
Only Schalke's defense was worse in the same period.
In addition, there were probably interpersonal upheavals.
The local press reported a difficult relationship between Neuhaus and sports director Samir Arabi.
The »Sport Bild« wrote that Neuhaus' rough tone would have frightened the players.
Kramer's approach: classic RB football
The new one, Kramer, had disappeared after engagements at TSG Hoffenheim, Fortuna Düsseldorf and the DFB as a U-national coach in youth football.
Last season he led the RB Salzburg U19s to the semi-finals in the Youth League.
In the medium term, he should rejuvenate the starting XI of Arminia.
In the short term, he should manage to stay in the league.
His debut against Union showed how different Kramer wants to play football.
His Bielefeld team advanced, especially in the first half, the back four kept moving up to the level of the center line.
The Arminia Unions wanted to disrupt the build-up of the game with an offensive diamond.
In the second half, Kramer chose a slightly more defensive 4-4-2, but his Bielefeld team still pressed early.
There were also changes in possession of the ball compared to Neuhaus.
The patient game over goalkeeper Stefan Ortega seems to be a thing of the past.
Bielefeld wants to play more vertically, the ball should be passed earlier in the direction of the attack.
Attack instead of waiting.
Moving to the ball, high pressing, fast vertical play: these are all elements of the style of play that Ralf Rangnick has established at the RB clubs.
A number of Bundesliga coaches have worked according to this concept in recent years.
With the ex-Salzburg Kramer, another representative of this style is now operating in the league.
A question of quality
The players seem willing to go his way.
With almost 134 kilometers run, Bielefeld set a season record.
The desire for a more active defense style was noticeable in the team.
At the same time, it was clear that Kramer could not compensate for the limitations of the squad either.
Arminia has the smallest budget of all Bundesliga clubs.
This is particularly reflected in the offensive: Arminia neither has a presence in the attacking midfield nor strong crossers.
Many of the vertical attacks landed accordingly in the feet of the enemy.
The team managed four shots against Union.
Kramer has to come up with something to strengthen the second weakest offensive in the league (only 18 goals this season).
So the question remains, how clever the change of coach, which also means a change of strategy in the relegation battle, actually was with a view to the current season.
Can Kramer with these new virtues lead Arminia to stay in the league more than Neuhaus would have been able to do with his style, which although not enthusiastic, but at least kept the team in the race?
The answer to the question will be given in the coming weeks.
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