M★RZEC - Man[ager] with a Mission

DFB Pokal, Round 2 | September 26th, 2023

Yildirim does it again; Another Hat-Trick!
BIELEFELD BEAT BREMEN! (3:2)

In contrast to their struggling form in the league, DSC Arminia Bielefeld are flying high in the German Cup. In the Round 2 of the DFB-Pokal, the third tier team eliminated Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen. Aygün Yildirim repeated his hat-trick again of the previous round!

It was a classic cup tie. Both teams went in with a do-or -die spirit. Home team boss Daniel Marzec fielded a classic 4-3-3 tactic with a false 9 striker: Aygün Yilidirim. The three Bielefeld midfielders managed to isolate the centre midfield of Bremen, thereby neutralizing Jens Stage and Naby Keïta for most of the game. Any danger from Bremen had to come over the flanks.

When out of possession, Bremen had trouble defending the front three of Bielefeld, as wingers Noah Bazee, Kevin Csoboth and the false striker Yilidirim were swapping positions all the time. Arminia cut through a handful of times, with Yildirim scoring three times out of such occasions. And after a hat-trick in round 1 against Osnabrück, Yildirim repeated his impressive feat yet again scoring three times against a Bundesliga team.

'We needed this!', manager Marzec said as he drew a sigh of relief. 'We took a good look in the mirror and found out that we were swapping our system aound too much. We weren't playing bad, but this team with all its new players needed an anchor, more stability - so, the staff and players decided to go back to basics: a standard 4-3-3 formation, but with one surprise; the mobile false-9 striker. And just look...: Suddenly, we defeated a Bundesliga side!'

Whether this could be a turning point is hard to say for the Arminia-manager: 'Before the game, I said the cup stands apart from the league. Sure, a win can give you boost. But over the long term, I think stability will bring us more: we need to stick to the route we've set out in the run up to this game: these tactics, this kind of motivation and fighting spirit and then see where we stand by the end of the calendar year.'

Arminia Bielefeld, together with Erzgebirge Aue, are the last of the 3.Liga teams still in the DFB-Pokal tournament. In the 1/8 final (round of 16), Arminia Bielefeld will visit Kaiserslautern and their infamous Fritz-Walter-Stadion on The Betzenberg. The game is set for November 1st.

What an impressive cup run for DSC Arminia Bielefeld! Their victory over Werder Bremen showcased tactical brilliance, with Aygün Yildirim's hat-trick stealing the show. Manager Daniel Marzec's decision to revert to a classic formation paid off, providing stability. Arminia Bielefeld can take pride in their achievements and aim for continued success.

He seems undroppable that Yildirim fellow. Hattrick against a Bundesliga side, he might attract some attention from bigger clubs. He's 28, so either you can attract a good fee for a player with limited room for improvement, or else you'll still have a good few seasons left in him.

I like the Alho signing, he's one I've considered many times. Good pace, good stamina, bringing in an experienced player might be useful for your club. Not a Free Agent in real life, but you gave it a good mention in the story, and his current level matches your other players just fine.

End of October 2023
BELIEF IS BACK IN BIELEFELD

The cup win over Werder Bremen gave Arminia Bielefeld a much needed shot in the arm. Since, they have won all of their games. Including that cup game, DSC Arminia are now unbeaten six games and have now won five games on the trot. With all signs turning green, Bielefeld has now snuck into the top half of the table in 9th.

Manager Daniel Marzec is happy with the turnaround, but remains cautious for blinding euphoria: "Sure, the results are good, but it's important to add some side notes: first, most teams we've played in the 3.Liga are from the bottom five of the table."

"The second thing, that is worth mentioning is that we've found stability in our game plan and tactics, with each player knowing their role in it. That used to be different: after our home defeat against Ingolstadt (1:3, September 1st) I told the guys that they aren't playing the ball as a team, but each on their own and that they are covering air, not space. Now we can start seeing the difference."

"I have to say, it's also a matter of the people in our group getting used to one another. But they're beginning to understand they are a team and that this is a team game; there's no I in team or strategy: they have to preform together, solve issues together, win or lose together."

The next hurdle The Arminians will be taking together is the 1/8 final (round of 16) in the DFB-Pokal (German Cup). A visit to Kaiserslautern awaits: "They serve as our example. They're a fallen giant of German football (even more than we are) and slowly they're crawling back up towards the Bundesliga again. It took them long enough, we want to achieve it better and faster. And beating them in the cup would be a first step in us overtaking them."

Let's commend the resurgence of belief in Bielefeld! Under the guidance of Manager Daniel Marzec, the team has embarked on an impressive winning streak, highlighted by a thrilling cup triumph over Werder Bremen. It's a testament to their resilience and determination. #BelieveInBielefeld

Funny thing. When I saw the cup win vs Werder Bremen, I thought that if you could win such a game, then the league wins would have to come running shortly. And here they were. Four in a row. What a brilliant turnaround, great job.

ARMINIA CUP RUN CONTINUES

KAISERSLAUTERN, Wednesday November 1st 2023 | DSC Arminia Bielefeld are quarterfinalist in the German cuptournament DFB-Pokal 2023-24. The third league team was dominant for the first hour of the game in and against 2.Bundesliga side 1.FC Kaiserslautern, resulting in three goals before allowing a consolation goal - 3:1.

Two goals and one assist were courtesy of -whom else?- Aygün Yildirim, who has netted 8 goals in three cup games. On January 31st 2024, he gets another chance to add to his cup tally in the quarter final in Bielefeld's own Alm against Union Berlin.

"It wasn't stolen, neither was it hard fought to my surprise: we completely deserved this win to be honest. For the first time this season, I could comfortably sit for the last part of the game and that's not because of the excellent chairs on The Betzenberg...", Marzec joked.

"But on a serious note, I did get annoyed by some of my players attempting a sort of gallery play toward the end; that type of arrogance costed us a fourth goal and in the end resulted a goal for them. We should've pressed on and kill that game while we could! That would've had a great effect on morale, now we got lazy and complacent. But I rather have to deal with these luxury problems, than the ones I dealt with two months ago."

After defeating VfL Osnabrück (18th in 2.Bundesliga), SV Werder Bremen (7th in Bundesliga) and 1.FC Kaiserslautern (15th in 2.Bundesliga) and somewhat of a recovery in the league, the dark clouds of the early season slowly appear to thin out. "The goal is still to immediately move back to 2.Bundesliga - the games in the Cup against higher ranked teams show that we can compete at their level and defeat them on occasion; we would be competitive on the 2nd level, it's where we belong and what I'm trying to achieve together with this group of people!"

UNBEATEN RUN ENDS

Dresden, November 11 2023 | The day the First World War ended, also marked the end for the unbeaten run for Arminia Bielefeld.

In the final minute, home team SG Dynamo Dresden managed to boot the winner, resulting in a 3:2 loss for team-in-form Arminia Bielefeld.

The team had managed to climb to 6th place at only six points of leaders MSV Duisburg. The defeat however means DSC are dropping back to 8th with the gap back to nine points

The two goals scored do mean Arminia are now the most productive side in the 2023-24 3.Liga with 26 goals. Remarkable, as the top scorer in the league (Aygün Yildirim) only has five goals to his name.

Bielefeld ends the 2023 calendar year at home against Preußen Múnster, then away against leaders MSV Duisburg, the final home game of the year against Sandhausen and finally, a week before christmas a visit to Saarbrücken.

Having beaten a Bundesliga side in the cup, it would always be disappointing to go out against a 2.BuLi side, wouldn't it? Yildirim helped you through once again, what a star man he is. Win streak broken, but in general your results have improved since the start, and I can't see why you shouldn't continue winning more in the time to come.

On the path to promotion there. The cup win vs Werder Bremen has really turned your season around. Every game won since, apart from a sole defeat, if i remember correctly. Elevator side Bielefeld to be about to go back up.

However - with 8 goals conceded in the last 4 wins, and 32 in the league thus far, you actually have the worst defence in the league, joint with the bottom two. This should raise a few concerns, for what will happen, when you play some better defences that won't allow you to score as freely? Working on that defence should be a priority for Arminia Bielefeld.

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@JustinCase0110 wrote:

On the path to promotion there. The cup win vs Werder Bremen has really turned your season around. Every game won since, apart from a sole defeat, if i remember correctly. Elevator side Bielefeld to be about to go back up.

However - with 8 goals conceded in the last 4 wins, and 32 in the league thus far, you actually have the worst defence in the league, joint with the bottom two. This should raise a few concerns, for what will happen, when you play some better defences that won't allow you to score as freely? Working on that defence should be a priority for Arminia Bielefeld.

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That's weird, yesterday evening I posted a second addition to the story, but it was deleted (probably some bits of the live-text didn't pass the scrutiny test...)

Here's it again, this time across various images

PLAYERS & PROGRESS

CHANGES DUE TO FINANCE

January 2024 | DER TONI!

Bielefeld have chipped away three points from the lead in the opening games of 2024. Manager Daniel Marzec is giving minutes to two 17 year old youth products: defender Andre Frank and the highly prolific striker Toni Schumacher, who netted four times in just as many games; thereby being responsible for 80% of the January production. "The first fruit of our labour with our Academy: brilliant!"

2024 saw the introduction of a new system, with Marzec outsmarting Ulm: "The first game against Ulm, we somehow could not get control over play through our conventional 4-3-3. So against Münster I experimented with 3-4-3, which becomes 5-2-3 when losing the ball. That's where suddenly DER TONI came to life! He's your modern German Bomber á la Gerd Müller: physically strong, maybe not very refined but highly prolific. And it worked: the second time, we had the better of Ulm."

Toni Schumacher, what a start for him, and what a name! Instantly reminded me of the original Toni Schumacher, who was a goalie for West Germany at the 1982 World Cup, severely injuring a French player in the semi final. You've got yourself a good position in the top, could have nailed a promotion spot with a win vs Duisburg though.

Marzec blames himself for Cup defeat (2:4)

Bielefeld, January 31st 2024 | DSC Arminia is out of the German Cup after a 2:4 loss against 1. FC Union. The score line did not reflect the rather equal ebb and flow of the game, but dramatically bad goalkeeping by rookie Vincent Frank meant that the Bielefeld home team had to swallow more than it could undo in the latter part of the game.

Daniel Marzec blamed himself afterwards: "Not for fielding players without too much game rhythm. But it wasn't clever to make them all start the game perhaps." The manager gave a starting position to the debuting Vincent Frank on goal, his brother Andre Frank in defence, with Fabiano Krasnic being the third academy player present at kick-off. Reserve defender Semi Belkahia and winger Nick Shipnoski were the other players, that made their first appearance since summer 2023.

A special appearance was made by Fabian Klos (36). The veteran striker of Arminia Bielefeld is rumoured to be granted leave to a foreign club: "He always wanted to play abroad. This is his final chance. With Aygün Yildirim and lately Toni Schumacher we have attackers that can score our goals", Marzec explained.

"We are negotiating with a Swedish club, which means he'll be playing a full season there, as their seasons go by the actual calendar. We're close to a deal. Despite the loss I am happy he has scored in his final appearance for the club he gave so much throughout most of his football career", the Manager praised the old timer.

It was Klos who couldn't score the opening goal out of two early attempts. On the other side, the visitors from Berlin were highly efficient as two shots on target were converted before half time. "It sounds cliché, but it wou;d've been a whole different ball game, if we had gotten the opener instead of them."

But all remaining ambition were sunk for good by FC Union, when halfway in the second half Kevin Volland was able to make two laughably easy goals, clear blunders by debuting goalie Vincent Frank. Manager Marzec quickly intervened, substituting the unlucky youngster for regular keeper Jonas Kersken. He also brought in teen sensation Toni Schumacher, not instead but alongside Fabian Klos - thus, switching to 4-4-2.

In that system, Bielefeld dominated the final twenty minutes pulling back from 0:4 to 2:4, courtesy of both forwads, equally dividing the spoils. "I was very happy with our display on the pitch", Marzec concluded. "And I am not blaming Vincent, youngsters are supposed to make errors, so that when they get older and more experienced they'll no longer make them: good players never make the same mistake twice. But that also applies to managers...: this one is on me."

Apart from the probable departure of Fabian Klos, the manager has filed a request for an extra midfielder and a back-up striker: "We are looking at options. Our possibilities are limited. For the forward position, I am contemplating promoting another youngling. On the midfield position, I want some experience. I don't mean in age or in number of games: I am talking about experience at a bigger club, with an even stronger focus on performance and professionalism."

For the young goalkeeper there's definitely consolation in being backed by the manager after making horrible errors. But it's never pretty being subbed off as a goalie. That has to hurt, regardless of how well the manager backs him afterwards. Good adjustments though, coming back to a more respectable 4-2 defeat. And now you can focus on the league and possible promotion ahead.

Yes, but I really feel sh!tty about this one: the realisation that half a B-squad was able to keep up with a Bundesliga side and then still being 0:4 down after just over an hour, that didn't sit right with me. My strongest eleven might've gotten more out of it, but then the upcoming three months we are playing twice a week practically every week.

In reality a 36 year old would probably bring valuable experience to the team, thus being important to keep around. In game, however, the rapid decline of such a veteran makes it practically impossible to use him properly and fit him in. Selling him for a fee might be the best possible outcome.

I like the loan player solution, something I've also started to do more and more myself. Relying on two teenagers to spearhead your attack might be a risk though.

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@JustinCase0110 wrote:

In reality a 36 year old would probably bring valuable experience to the team, thus being important to keep around.

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We think alike: at this moment there is still Niko Alho and there will be an additional veteran for next season.

Very interesting club. I know in the English tier there are "yo-yo" clubs like Norwich City but that is from the Championship to the Premier League only. Having a team that goes from first division to third division in such a short time and then bounce back just as quick is interesting. 

It's been a good season for you so far. Building a youth foundation to develop while also fighting for promotion is the perfect start for a new manager.