Bundesliga Team Report: 1. FC Köln

Köln (or Cologne) is the cultural centre of Germany’s Rhineland, hosting a wealth of museums, galleries and, like all good cities, one very interesting football club. A club with a magnificent 50,000 seater-stadium which creates one of the nation’s finest atmospheres. 

1.FC Köln were Bundesliga stalwarts until 1998 when they slipped into the second tier. Until that campaign, they’d been in the top flight since the Bundesliga’s inception and were the first team to win the title. They were crowned champions again in 1978, truly cementing themselves as one of the country’s fiercest clubs. 20 years later, they dropped down to the second tier. 

Looking back retrospectively like this makes that relegation seem so peculiar. The same can be said for their relegation in 2018 too, a year after securing a fifth-placed finish in the Bundesliga. 

But those darker times are in the rear-view. The Billygoats clinched the Bundesliga 2 title at the first time of asking, securing a return to the big time. Now’s the time to look forward once more.

Your job as manager in FM20 is to keep the team up, something that can be just as exhilarating as challenging at the top of the league. 

Club Vision 

Media prediction: 13th 
Board expectation: Avoid a relegation battle 

You need to work within your budget, to be clever with finances and use what you have at your disposal to the maximum. After the first year, you then need to build, slowly but steadily and with ambition. The Club Vision is clear - Köln want patient progress with a board that’ll give a manager time to develop a project. 
Avoiding relegation becomes a top-half finish with sights firmly on playing European football in the long-term. You’re essentially tasked with reversing Köln’s journey in recent times, get them out of the trouble they fell in and return them to where they belong. 

The squad 

At your disposal are some interesting players; players that a manager of a relegation-threatened team is lucky to have (no pressure…). Many of the team’s top stars stuck with the club when they spent a season in the second tier and have now been rewarded with Bundesliga football once more. 

Tactically, Köln take advantage of their versatility in midfield and wide areas by deploying a fluid 4-2-3-1 which allows for players to interchange, both in terms of position and personnel. Jhon Córdoba or Anthony Modeste offer themselves as the focal point, bringing others into the game.  

Key players

Club legends Jonas Hector and Timo Horn batted away advances from elite suitors in order to bring their team back to where you find them now. It’s important to utilise their experience and obvious quality, especially as defensive players in what could be a dramatic campaign. Get them on-side and you’ll be off to a flyer. 

Upfront is Jhon Córdoba, an explosive striker who has hit double figures in the Bundesliga this season. The Colombian needs to be in a system that plays to his strengths if you are to have success in beating the drop. With high attributes in Pace, Strength, Balance and Aggression, the Pressing Forward has enough quality to carry the team’s attacking output. 

Schalke 04 loanee Mark Uth will also become an important player. In the real world, his loan took place in January but, you’ve got him all season, so it’s crucial to find a way of getting the German and Córdoba working together. While Uth might not have the most well-rounded profile, he’s a deadly finisher, capable of fulfilling different positions across the front-line. 

The prospects 

Your team report also consists of a back-line full of potential with centre-backs Jorge Mere and Sébastiaan Bornauw accompanied by left-back Noah Katterbach, Hector’s understudy. The young full-back is clearly learning from the club captain and allows him to step into midfield, if necessary. Develop these three prospects and you should be covered for a generation… 

Ahead of Katterbach on the left is Ismail Jakobs, another prospect promoted to the first team this season. Jakobs is quick, youthful, and fearless, able to drive at defences. Most importantly, he’s versatile, something that benefits Köln’s system. Left-footed left wingers might seem to be going out of fashion, but Jakobs is able to get plenty of crosses into the box for the team’s target men. Something we’d certainly encourage you implement too. 

In analysing each of the starlets, Bornauw is the highlight. The defender is a regular in the side and has scored big goals in big moments too, finding the net on five occasions (and counting) this campaign. His switch from Belgium to the Bundesliga in the summer is looking like one of the deals of the season. 

The Final Word 

1.FC Köln represents a tempting challenge; you can become the manager who takes them from relegation candidates to European contenders. Something you can enjoy bragging to your friends about in the group chat… 

It might sound ambitious but it’s not dreamland stuff. It’s clear from day one that you have the tools, illustrated by the Billygoat’s impressive form this season. You’ve got ready-made, experienced stars coupled with a versatile midfield and a defence built for a decade. You’ll need to be patient and build steadily but it’s certainly attainable. It all starts with beating the drop in the first season and the club’s first season back.