Sports director Gorenzel is in the process of downsizing the XXL squad of the lions (Goden, luck).
And coach Koellner?
More than ever, he is making use of his oversupply.
Joseph Boyamba is the best example: sometimes he was in, sometimes out, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right - and in the last game before Christmas he wasn't in the squad at all.
In the autumn of the crisis, Michael Köllner was accused, among other things, of not finding a real starting eleven, of operating too much on open hearts.
His reaction to this: He now changes even more, is even more strictly based on performance.
And why?
Because he can.
The XXL luxury squad expanded by Raphael Holzhauser makes it possible.
Bär replacement Sheetenmacher sets up a goal and scores himself
The home game against Zwickau (3:1) showed that no one has a regular place, not even the previous top dogs.
Up front, Fynn Lakenmacher replaced last year's top scorer, Marcel Bär.
It wasn't captain Stefan Lex who played on the right flank, but problem child Boyamba.
And particularly consistent: even the supposedly untouchable Jesper Verlaat was given a pause for thought.
Semi Belkahia was allowed to take his place.
In other words: the leader of the kicker ranking list was thrown out of the team - in favor of a fellow central defender who had not played a role in the first 18 games (251 minutes).
Suddenly, Semi Belkahia is (dr-)in again
Köllner's message to the team: It can happen to anyone!
Lo and behold: Belkahia won almost every duel, Boyamba dribbled and ran.
Sheetenmacher made his best game in a long time, prepared Holzhauser's lightning lead and scored himself a little later - the striker's first goal since September.
Competition stimulates business - not just a 5-euro phrase.
Lakenmacher's comment after his gala performance: "I want to build on that." If possible on Monday against Dresden.
It is precisely this greed that Köllner missed in his entire team in the autumn of 2022.
