M★RZEC - Man[ager] with a Mission

@Danimal5981
Welcome back...looking forward to this.
It's gonna be interesting to see how many loaned players are still there in January...

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@CO88LER5 wrote:

@Danimal5981
Welcome back...looking forward to this.
It's gonna be interesting to see how many loaned players are still there in January...

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Thank you, sir! I hope to have finally found a challenge worth the effort (that is, if the game holds it together).

Earning an immediate promotion is tough enough as it is with this improvised squad:

DSC Arminia has bought an entirely new squad. Only one player represented Arminia Bielefeld as a senior player last season: veteran striker Fabian Klos, who has been at the club since 2011. All other players are new: six youth players were promoted, six players have come in for a single season on loan; all others come from different clubs, 15 players in total.

The Team in Blue appears solid at the back with eight defenders, all more or less of the same skill and quality. Where Bielefeld relies on German discipline at the back, up front the team has acquired some international creativeness with attacking midfielders Nassim Boujellab from Schalke and Kaito Mizuta from Mainz.

In midfield, Bielefeld snatched American midfielder Mael Corboz away from local rivals SC Verl. With a contract until 2027, Corboz appears to be the long-term centrepiece for the rebuild of this team. But the highest ranking player this season would appear to be Noah Joel Sarenren Bazee: the Nigerian-German winger joins Bielefeld from Augsburg, where he played for four seasons.

JULY 2023 - BIELEFELD'S BAPTISM OF FIRE

The debut of Daniel Marzec has been a rocky one at best. The new Dutch/Polish man at the helm has discovered the DSC are nicknamed Yo-Yo Club for a reason: in the opening games of the 2023/24 3. Liga season, Bielefeld managed to mix promising moments with sheer drama. At the end of an entertaining opening month of the season, it leaves the Arminians with only a single point.

The opening game was a local derby at SC Verl, a mere 10 miles from Arminia's home ground. Bielefeld had a promising first half, leading with 2:1 heading into the half time talks. In the 52nd minute Kaito Mizuta shot Arminia 3:1 up.

But two penalties and a red card leveled the score by the arrival of injury time. Michel Stocker headed in a late winner for Verl, leaving Arminia Bielefeld with the short end of the stick, after a true derby that had everything! - 3:4.

A week later, Marzec sought to seek revenge during the first time in front of the home crowd against another opponent from North Rhine Westphalia: Rot-Weiss Essen came to visit at The Bielefelder Alm.

Again, Bielefeld lead again halfway (1:0), but early in the second half an inaccurate pass between Arminia's central defenders was converted into the equalizer by the visitors. Veteran striker and captain Fabian Klos managed to restore the one goal advantage for the home side. However, another penalty kept Bielefeld from their first win - 2:2.

Kicker.de saw the effects of Bielefeld being a bought together bunch: "Absolutely no cohesion or team-spirit. The new manager has a task of gigantic proportions ahead, to forge a team out of this AND win the 3.Liga title along the way."

"Individually these players show quality, we can deduce from the number of goals scored. But as an organization on the pitch, the opponents at this level sometimes cut through the Bielrfeld defence as a warm knife through butter."

Daniel Marzec however, struck a very optimistic tone: "The derby against Verl was a true baptism of fire for me and for this new Bielefelder team. I think we actually did okay, given the fact that the team and myself have been together a little over three weeks. And derbies go, as they do - it had everything: dramatic turnarounds, red cards, penalties, a late decider. It's sour for us, but we gave our neighbours a serious run for their money."

"Against Essen, losing points because of a penalty is hard, but there was improvement for sure. If we keep imrpoving, we will be even more productive than we already are, while becoming more safe and solid at the back. Then, as crazy as it sounds after only a single point and six goals against, I actually see us challenging for the title, honestly."

The opening round of local derbies hasn't ended yet for Arminia: next up is the 1st round of the German Cup, the DFB Pokal against VfL Osnabrück. The two are separated by the A30 highway. Osnabrück plays a level higher this season, in 2.Bundesliga.

DFB Pokal, Round 1 | August 5th, 2023
Arminia face penalty-trauma against rival

Round 1 of 2023-2024 DFB Pokal action included a regional derby between 'friendly foes' VfL Osnabrück and Arminia Bielefeld. The advantage seemed to be at the side of Osnabrück, as they played at home, with the visitors also normally playing a tier lower. For Bielefeld, it became a game where it again had to face in what is becoming a 'penalty-trauma'.

Bielefeld started conservative to the game, as they were aware that on paper they would be the lesser side. The effect was that the first half between Osnabrück and Bielefeld was without much action and definitely without any goals - 0:0 at half time.

Arminia attempted to put a bit more daring into their play in the second half, leaving the defense vunerable for counter attacks. Ten minutes into the second half, such a break out was bodychecked by Arminia-defender Can Özcan.

The subsequent penalty was convert was converted. Osnabrück went 1:0 up. A pattern seems to be forming with Bielefeld giving away the strong position achieved by half time.

From the moment Osnabrück went ahead, it never appeared in front of the Bielefelder goal anymore. At the other end, Arminia created its first real goalward chances. The equalizer came from the rebound of such a chance. Fabian Klos attempted a shot twelve yards out, but the ball was deflected to the right flank. Noah Bazee moved the bal back towards the centre where Aygun Yildirim tipped in 1:1.

But the key moment of the game was in the 81st minute, when Erik Engelhardt received a direct red card for a charge on Arminia-midfielder Sam Schleck. Osnabrück was now a man down, while Schleck got replaced by Nassim Boujellab.

Boujellab's first ball contact was a direct deep going pass, perfect for the angle and speed of the moving Yildirim, who upgraded his production to a brace.

The home side desperately attempted to draw even, but by doing so ignored all defensive duties. Before the final whistle, Yildirim was sent deep once more. One on one with goalie Philipp Kühn, the attacker kept cool and made his third, handing his side the first win of the season, which they celebrated exuberantly on the Osnabrück pitch!

"I think that penalty triggered the same thought within all of us" a jubelant Daniel Marzec said when celebrating is team's 3:1 cup win. "We wouldn't allow that yet another penalty would ruin our game a third time in a row."

Arminia Bielefeld will face Bundesliga side Werder Bremen in round 2 of the German Cup, which will be played in the last week of September.

Good pick! I've considered them many times actually. A lower league team with a real stadium. What is not to like?

Tough start in the league with a loss and a draw. Looked difficult in the cup as well, but good job turning it around with the hattrick from this Yildirum fellow. You'd probably be sacked soon, if you'd lost that one, so it's a good thing you got the result in the cup, even if the league results have been underwhelming so far.

Wait, what...?
That's the second time I hear getting 'sacked' due to some kind of bug: something I am unaware of...? Please, elaborate...

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@Danimal5981 wrote:

Wait, what...?
That's the second time I hear getting 'sacked' due to some kind of bug: something I am unaware of...? Please, elaborate...

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Bug or no bug. The board objective just seems to be rather strict, when it comes to the domestic objective. So if you don't achieve their goal in the DfB-pokal, for instance, your manager rating will suffer from it. And it's kind of a monthly drainage or something, so if you lose a cup game in October, then your manager rating will gradually decline over several months, and you will most likely be sacked during the spring. Regardless of your other achievements. Missing out on it at the end of the season doesn't seem to have the same negative impact, since it's the decline over several months that's what you would want to avoid. Hope it makes sense.