Nothing in Freiburg is reminiscent of the past, only the coach: His name is still Christian Streich, but he is not in danger of being relegated with the SCF. That’s a long time ago. Back then 14/15 it was: Europe, then 2nd league. Now it’s time for Europe and the fight for the title. How so? “We’re good,” replies Streich.
After the folklore themes of tears in the eyes and a beer after work with Steffen Baumgart were dealt with, Christian Streich got serious. “Yes, good,” SC Freiburg’s successful coach began his monologue, with which he explained the continued soaring of the new Bayern hunter. In exactly 87 seconds, Streich summed up everything that makes the sports club so special under his direction.
“It’s going in our direction right now. We’re good. But I know how good we are – and how good we’re not in some things,” said Streich after the 2-0 (0-0) win against 1. FC Köln and the jump to second place in the Bundesliga: “But that doesn’t matter – that’s why we work together.” And how they work together in Breisgau. Since Streich took over the helm of the pros in January 2012, the success story has been written. The latest chapter is about six competitive games without defeat, the best season in the club’s history so far, just one point behind Bayern Munich and reaching the round of 16 of the Europa League for the first time.
All these successes are now accompanied by an almost frightening implicitness. Gone are the days when the “small SC” fought against the big ones. Although the cup finalists really didn’t set off any fireworks in their 21st competitive game of the current season, Cologne were defeated in the style of a top team. Everything was tight again at the back, Woo-Yeong Jeong (53′) and Michael Gregoritsch (64′) used two ice-cold chances at the front. The fact that Freiburg have only conceded 13 goals and have the second best defense after Munich is another characteristic of a top team.
“We defend together,” said Streich about the strong defensive performance so far, which would be even more impressive without the breakaway in mid-October at Bayern (0: 5): “We also got Matthias Ginter. It’s not normal that you lose Nico Schlotterbeck – and then get Matthias Ginter. He stabilizes a lot and makes the other players better.” Of course, this also applies to Streich, who is not praised by many colleagues and experts as the best coach in the league for nothing. “The way players work on weaknesses here – that pays off,” said Gregoritsch, who came from FC Augsburg in the summer: “Everyone does their job. We’re just a stable, good team.”
And there are no signs that this will change in the medium term. The Freiburg team, who have to prove themselves to RB Leipzig on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. / Sky) have so far easily put away the triple burden of the league, European Cup and cup. Of course, Streich also had an explanation for this in his 87 seconds: “It’s true that we have a squad that we’ve rarely had until now.” And a rarity trainer, they have that too.
