Summer Business Recap and Season Preview
As Union Berlin prepare to embark on the club's first Bundesliga season in their history, we take a look at the glut of roster changes the side made to prepare for the top flight over the summer.
Goalkeepers: Well, there's no doubt that Rafał Gikiewicz is a huge part of why Union Berlin will be playing Bundesliga football for the first time this season. Purchased from Freiburg, Gikiewicz appeared in every fixture last season and backstopped the stingiest defense in the 2. Bundesliga, conceding 33 goals in 34 matches while keeping 14 clean sheets. No other club in the second division conceded fewer than Hamburg's 42. And he scored an injury time equalizer himself against Heidenheim last October to boot (well, maybe to boot is the wrong phrase since it was a header...)
Lennart Moser has gone out on loan to Energie Cottbus this season so the club brought in Moritz Nicolas from Borussia Mönchengladbach to make up the numbers between the sticks. Jakob Busk is still around, too, though he has only played twice since the 2017-18 winter break.
Defense: Of course, conceding the fewest goals in the 2. Bundesliga is one thing, but keeping the ball out of your own net in the top flight is a much more difficult ask. To that end, Union made a point to consolidate the defense, the flashiest move of which was the signing of Neven Subotić from Saint-Etienne. The 30-year-old Serbian center back was a mainstay in Jürgen Klopp's Dortmund sides in the earlier part of the decade that won two Bundesliga titles, a DFB-Pokal, and two Supercups. He's been plagued by injuries through the last few years, but you can't discount his experience, coming into an already strong backline.
Much of that backline has been kept together, even though Augsburg gave the club some trouble by invoking their buy-back clause on Marvin Friedrich. A day after securing Subotić, the club announced that Friedrich would be returning, meaning that their top choice back four from their promotion season of Friedrich, Florian Hübner, captain Christopher Trimmel, and Ken Reichel would all be returning.
Much of their depth on defense is returning as well. Club mainstay Michael Parensen extended his contract almost immediately after the promotion was secured, while the youth of Nicolai Rapp, Christopher Lenz, Julian Ryerson, and Lennard Maloney are all still around. It was announced today that Lars Dietz has gone out on loan to Viktoria Köln.
They've also brought in 22-year-old Keven Schlotterbeck on loan from Freiburg and anyone who's played 90 minutes of a 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich is fine by me. He was man of the match in the cup tie against Halberstadt on Sunday, as well.
Union did get rid of some of the dead-weight on the backline, as you have to. Peter Kurzweg, who spent last year on loan with Würzberger Kickers has now been sold to Ingolstadt, while both Marc Torrejón and Fabian Schönheim were released. Schönheim made 111 appearances for the club, but at age 32 and coming off a serious knee injury, his contract was allowed to expire. That decision was made in April, long before Union had to consider stocking up for the top flight. Still, tough either way.
Central Midfield: Again, Union were able to retain the services of most of the players who helped them win promotion last season, including Manuel Schmiedebach, who had been on loan from Hannover. He'll be sticking around in midfield along with the likes of Grischa Prömel and Felix Kroos, though the club were not able to retain Robert Žulj, whose loan spell from Hoffenheim has ended.
To make up for the loss of Žulj, Union made a splash in signing experienced midfielder Christian Gentner from Stuttgart, the club they relegated in the playoff. They also brought in 24-year-old Robert Andrich from Heidenheim.
19-year-old Maurice Arcones was signed to the first team out of the club youth system, likely out of some necessity; Union haven't had a II team since 2015 and I assume he would not have been eligible for the U19's anymore. The same fate hit Lennard Maloney on defense last year, though it's also been said he was focused on academic commitments.
Attacking Midfield and Wingers: I think one of the bigger losses from last year's side is that Marcel Hartel, who started both legs of the playoff against Stuttgart to some surprise from the likes of me (but that's why Urs Fischer is smarter than I am.) Hartel was sold to Arminia Bielefeld at the end of July.
Hartel became excess to requirements after Union brought in a number of new attackers. While we'll get to the forwards in a moment, on the wings, the club brought in Sheraldo Becker from Den Haag, Florian Flecker from Hartberg, and purchased Suleiman Abdullahi, who had been on loan from Braunschweig. They've brought in Marius Bülter on loan from Magdeburg and bought Julius Kade from the other side of town. The 20-year-old Cihan Kahraman returns from a loan spell as well.
With all that movement, it's almost hard to find a spot to talk about the wingers who are still here, so at least there's some stability in the return of Joshua Mees and Akaki Gogia.
Forwards: And yet, through all of that, it feels like Union did the most work in stockpiling forwards. They still have the two Sebastians, Polter and Andersson. But maybe their biggest move of the summer was securing the services of Anthony Ujah and his 27 career league Bundesliga goals from Mainz. They've also brought in Marcus Ingvartsen from Genk, a team I have to constantly remind myself is not Gent and promoted 17-year-old Laurenz Dehl from the academy.
It looks like Urs Fischer is hoping to have the same kind of problems he had last year, in how to juggle this many attacking options, though it should be noted that even with all the attackers they had in the side, Union's 54 goals was only good for sixth in the division, behind Köln, Paderborn, Kiel, Heidenheim, and Jahn Regensburg.
Season Prediction: I'd like to think that Union made enough moves to consolidate what was already a strong, well-organized, defensive team and supplement that with enough goals to stay afloat. If the team stays healthy, I trust in Urs Fischer's leadership and decision making to keep the team above the line.
If you want to compare them to recent promoted sides, will they have a season more like Düsseldorf's or Nürnberg's last year? The former methodically picked up results to the tune of 13 wins and 44 points, the latter finished with a goal difference of -42 and just 19 points. I think the result will be somewhere in the middle.
To avoid the relegation places, you have to find at least three teams who'll finish worse... so... Paderborn... Augsburg... and maybe either Freiburg or Mainz? That's a big ask.
Looks like it's gonna be close, and the stat-based predictors have been calling it close to 50/50, so it should be a wild ride regardless.
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| Gikiewicz celebrates his goal. |
Lennart Moser has gone out on loan to Energie Cottbus this season so the club brought in Moritz Nicolas from Borussia Mönchengladbach to make up the numbers between the sticks. Jakob Busk is still around, too, though he has only played twice since the 2017-18 winter break.
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| Neven Subotić brings enormous experience to the backline. |
Much of that backline has been kept together, even though Augsburg gave the club some trouble by invoking their buy-back clause on Marvin Friedrich. A day after securing Subotić, the club announced that Friedrich would be returning, meaning that their top choice back four from their promotion season of Friedrich, Florian Hübner, captain Christopher Trimmel, and Ken Reichel would all be returning.
Much of their depth on defense is returning as well. Club mainstay Michael Parensen extended his contract almost immediately after the promotion was secured, while the youth of Nicolai Rapp, Christopher Lenz, Julian Ryerson, and Lennard Maloney are all still around. It was announced today that Lars Dietz has gone out on loan to Viktoria Köln.
 |
| Keven Schlotterbeck joins from Freiburg and has already scored from a Trimmel set piece. |
Union did get rid of some of the dead-weight on the backline, as you have to. Peter Kurzweg, who spent last year on loan with Würzberger Kickers has now been sold to Ingolstadt, while both Marc Torrejón and Fabian Schönheim were released. Schönheim made 111 appearances for the club, but at age 32 and coming off a serious knee injury, his contract was allowed to expire. That decision was made in April, long before Union had to consider stocking up for the top flight. Still, tough either way.
Central Midfield: Again, Union were able to retain the services of most of the players who helped them win promotion last season, including Manuel Schmiedebach, who had been on loan from Hannover. He'll be sticking around in midfield along with the likes of Grischa Prömel and Felix Kroos, though the club were not able to retain Robert Žulj, whose loan spell from Hoffenheim has ended.
 |
| One way to bring in midfield talent is to take the captain of the team you relegated. |
19-year-old Maurice Arcones was signed to the first team out of the club youth system, likely out of some necessity; Union haven't had a II team since 2015 and I assume he would not have been eligible for the U19's anymore. The same fate hit Lennard Maloney on defense last year, though it's also been said he was focused on academic commitments.
Attacking Midfield and Wingers: I think one of the bigger losses from last year's side is that Marcel Hartel, who started both legs of the playoff against Stuttgart to some surprise from the likes of me (but that's why Urs Fischer is smarter than I am.) Hartel was sold to Arminia Bielefeld at the end of July.
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| You can't keep the entire squad together, but this just looks weird. |
With all that movement, it's almost hard to find a spot to talk about the wingers who are still here, so at least there's some stability in the return of Joshua Mees and Akaki Gogia.
Forwards: And yet, through all of that, it feels like Union did the most work in stockpiling forwards. They still have the two Sebastians, Polter and Andersson. But maybe their biggest move of the summer was securing the services of Anthony Ujah and his 27 career league Bundesliga goals from Mainz. They've also brought in Marcus Ingvartsen from Genk, a team I have to constantly remind myself is not Gent and promoted 17-year-old Laurenz Dehl from the academy.
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| Union had a lot of attacking options last year, but were 6th in the 2. Bundesliga in goals. Bringing in a proven goal scorer in Ujah should help. |
Season Prediction: I'd like to think that Union made enough moves to consolidate what was already a strong, well-organized, defensive team and supplement that with enough goals to stay afloat. If the team stays healthy, I trust in Urs Fischer's leadership and decision making to keep the team above the line.
If you want to compare them to recent promoted sides, will they have a season more like Düsseldorf's or Nürnberg's last year? The former methodically picked up results to the tune of 13 wins and 44 points, the latter finished with a goal difference of -42 and just 19 points. I think the result will be somewhere in the middle.
To avoid the relegation places, you have to find at least three teams who'll finish worse... so... Paderborn... Augsburg... and maybe either Freiburg or Mainz? That's a big ask.
Looks like it's gonna be close, and the stat-based predictors have been calling it close to 50/50, so it should be a wild ride regardless.
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