1.FC Nürnberg Preview

1. FC Nürnberg

Coach: Michael Oenning

Michael Oenning is one of the new coaches. It will be his first season in Bundesliga.
He took over Thomas van Heesen's position as coach in August 2008.

At the beginning it did not look as if Oenning is able to get Nürnberg back to 1.Bundesliga. The first half of the season went quite bad and many people gave Nürnberg no chance to get back to 1.Bundesliga that season.

But during the winter break Oenning did some changes and brought Nürnberg back on the winning way. At the end it was enough and since then Oenning is rated high in Nürnberg. Especially the fans celebrated him a lot!

It will be interesting to see how he can adapt to Bundesliga, but it is nice to see young and new coaches getting a chance in Germanys highest football league.

Money spend for transfers: 1.250.000 €
Money earned from transfers: 7.425.000 €

Balance: +6.175.000 €

Atmosphere during training camp&test matches:

Out of nine test matches Nürnberg lost only two. Quite eye-catching fact was that against small teams they had no problems winning (5:1 against RW Erfurt f.e.), but against bigger teams such as Dortmund (0:1) and Glasgow Ranger (0:2) they got defeats.

At least they managed to steal a draw from Fenerbahce (3:3), but as a Fenerbahce supporter I had a look at this match for sure and must admit that through all the changes done in the line-up Fenerbahce was not once on full strength.

All in all we could see that their level is top of 2.Bundesliga and bottom of 1.Bundesliga (wins over small teams, defeats against big teams).

In terms of injuries Nürnberg had not any big problems which will make coach Oenning happy.

Possible line-ups & tactics:










Most likely:

1. 4-4-2 (4-1-2-1-2); LB,CB,CB,RB,DM,OM,RM,LM,ST,ST

Aim set by club:

Don't get relegated. Stay in 1.Bundesliga.

Team check:

Goalkeeper: 7/10

Raphael Schäfer moved to Stuttgart from Nürnberg where many fans thought if it is a copy of Schäfer who was bought. Schäfer could not convince in Stuttgart and went back to Nürnberg.
Last season he was one of the best goalkeepers in 2.Bundesliga and he is now back in 1.Bundesliga.
He has some deficits when he has to control the ball with his foot as we could see in the friendly against Fenerbahce once again.
On the line and in 1 vs. 1 situation is good, crosses are only a problem from time to time for him.

Defence: 6/10

Left back Pinola is well known for those who follow Bundesliga regular. A good left back who identifies himself with the club. He stayed in Nürnberg although he could play 1.Bundesliga in clubs such as Leverkusen. A problem is that Maroh, centre back is injured and therefore Pinola will be used as centre back at the beginning of the season.

Another experienced player who played in Bundesliga before is Andreas Wolf. He will play centre back together with Pinola.

Left back will be then Pascal Bieler. Right back Dennis Diekmeier came during the winter break from Bremen and directly played for Nürnberg.

During a possible relegation fight Nürnberg can trust in experience and the defence was the best one last season conceding only 29 goals.

Midfield: 7/10

New guy Broich came from Köln where he could not convince that much, but he will be a good help for sure.

Defensive midfield will be either Mnari who is very experienced or the already mentioned Thomas Broich.

On left midfield position we can see a new face. Ilkay Gündogan, just 18 years old did impress in test matches and may start on this position. Gygax and Frantz would have to sit on bench then.

On right midfield position there is no way going around Peer Kluge who also played with Nürnberg in Bundesliga.

Marek Mintal, the dangerous creative head of the team will fill the offensive midfield position.
Nürnberg has some alternatives in midfield, only on offensive midfield position they are depending a lot on Marek Mintal who has to be play a lot of games if possible.

Striker: 5/10

The strikers do not convince me at all.
Eigler, Charisteas and Boakye did all play in Bundesliga but not one of them can be described as a real goal getter.

At the moment it is not sure who will play, Eigler and Boakye had some advantages but Charisteas outpaced them in test matches.

All in all not one of them is able to score more than 10 goals, at least they never did before.

Total: 6/10

My prognosis:

Usually teams who got promoted have to fight against relegation in the first season, but Nürnberg has some quality in the team which a lot of other clubs let miss. A good midfield position would not let me wonder.

Only the offense and the missing goal scoring ability can cause some problems, but when the midfield scores a few goals as well they can compensate that.