Salih Özcan, Dejan Ljubicic & Co. – Summary of the season
The Cologne control center, the midfield, was a real eye-catcher this year thanks to the sixth position. There is still room for improvement in the creative regions.
Cologne – Steffen Baumgart has to ensure a lot of order after taking office at 1. FC Köln – also in midfield. With Salih Özcan, a homegrown player is about to make the jump, but the new FC coach knows how to convince him after a few talks. At the same time, star player Ellyes Skhiri is toying with the idea of saying goodbye because top European clubs are supposed to be scrambling to win him over. An unfavorable starting point, which fortunately can be regulated. Especially in the case of Özcan, it will become clear a few months later how important his contract extension was.
1. FC Cologne: Dejan Ljubicic comes from Rapid Vienna
Like Louis Schaub, Cologne’s new signing for the defensive midfield, Dejan Ljubicic, comes from the youth team of the Austrian first division club Rapid Wien. As a free transfer he should ensure stability in midfield with his leader qualities on the defensive, but also participate in the game up front. In the diamond system, under Baumgart, he is only rarely used in his learned position. For example, it is the right or offensive midfield where his new coach sees him. Baumgart also quickly gave him the stamp “Anrunner before the Lord” and used his all-purpose weapon in a total of 30 Bundesliga games. Three competitive goals and an assist later – two of them in the first and second leg against Borussia Mönchengladbach – one thing is clear at the end of the season: Ljubicic was an absolute stroke of luck.
24RHEIN note: 1
Dejan Ljubicic – Performance data of the Bundesliga season 2021/22
► 29 games
► 3 goals, 1 assist
► 184 duels won, duel rate: 41.53 percent
► 484 incoming passes, pass rate: 76.22 percent
► 266.73 kilometers mileage
Source: sport.de; Status: 20.5.22
1. FC Köln: Ellyes Skhiri shines and is ousted
Already at the beginning of the season it is clear: Ellyes Skhiri is a hot potato on the transfer market. Despite rumors from the Premier League, Serie A and Ligue 1, “Flaco” will remain with 1. FC Köln. In the first competitive game of the season, in the first round of the DFB Cup, Skhiri began to show his importance and saved FC with his equalizer into extra time. There is absolutely no way around the Tunisian until the seventh match day of the Bundesliga, and against promoted Greuther Fürth he even puts together a brace in what is probably his best game of the season. Then Skhiri injured his fibula head with the national team and took a long time to get back on track. In the meantime, Salih Özcan is playing more and more in the foreground. On the double six, which Baumgart tried out and set up towards the middle of the season, Özcan’s light then shines much brighter. Skhiri’s year is still a good one, nobody can deny his incredible passing accuracy and self-sacrificing style of play.
24RHEIN annotation: 2
Ellyes Skhiri – Performance data of the Bundesliga season 2021/22
► 21 games
► 4 goals, 1 assist
► 242 duels won, duel rate: 57.62 percent
► 768 passed passes, pass rate: 89.41 percent
► 254.11 kilometers mileage
Source: sport.de; Status: 20.5.22
1. FC Köln: Salih Özcan comes, sees and wins
Without a doubt, Salih Özcan is THE big surprise of the season alongside Anthony Modeste. The 24-year-old hasn’t had it easy under Steffen Baumgart for a long time. By the eighth matchday he had a meager 98 minutes in the Bundesliga. But Skhiri’s absence should change everything for Özcan: Suddenly he is the man in demand in defensive midfield, coach Baumgart has complete confidence in the qualities of his protégé. In Hoffenheim, they scored 5-0 in their first start, but everything got better in the weeks that followed. Özcan leads biting duels, seems tireless and calms down the Cologne game in tricky phases. The fact that Baumgart later says: “Salih cannot be replaced at the moment” is the ultimate accolade for the Ehrenfeld boy. The debut for the Turkish national team follows, at the same time the Cologne club bosses are working in the background with a contract extension, and the Cologne Ultras are also demanding to stay in the stadium with a giant banner. It probably won’t come to that – Borussia Dortmund will soon be able to call Baumgart’s most important man their own.
24RHEIN note: 1
Salih Özcan – Performance data of the Bundesliga season 2021/22
► 31 games
► 2 goals, 1 assist
► 327 duels won, duel rate: 52.32 percent
► 1074 incoming passports, pass rate: 87.75 percent
► 278.66 kilometers mileage
Source: sport.de; Status: 20.5.22
1. FC Köln: Louis Schaub is the noble joker in midfield
Louis Schaub begins his third season at 1. FC Köln again as a challenger. One can anticipate this much: The Austrian playmaker, even under Steffen Baumgart, does not get beyond the role of reserve player. Despite his lively style of play and his technical adeptness, in the end it was only enough for six starting eleven nominations. The 27-year-old laid the foundation for Cologne’s victory against VfL Bochum on matchday three with a goal to make it 1-0. In the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach, he prepared Sebastian Andersson’s 4-1 lead. Hannover 96 can definitely look forward to a good kicker, who in the past has scored one or two notable goals for the Domstadt team – his legendary goal against Dynamo Dresden is unforgettable.
24RHEIN annotation: 3
Louis Schaub – performance data of the Bundesliga season 2021/22
► 27 games
► 1 goal, 2 assists
► 436 ball contacts
► 186 incoming passes, pass rate: 72.37 percent
► 16 shots on goal, goal ratio: 0.06
Source: sport.de; Status: 20.5.22
1. FC Köln: Ondrej Duda cannot repeat the previous season
In his first FC season, Ondrej Duda was able to immediately demonstrate his playmaker qualities. With 13 scorer points, he was probably the most sought-after man in the Cologne squad in 2020/21. A year later things are not going quite so smoothly under Steffen Baumgart. Mark Uth always gets preference on the ten. Baumgart doesn’t know what to do with acrobatic tricks in the form of hoe tricks, and the FC coach also publicly criticizes his exceptional talent. Duda scored his first goal of the season against the foals on matchday 13 – but the knot didn’t want to burst afterwards. Before matchday 32, Baumgart even suspended him for one match due to lack of discipline. A weak season ended for the Slovak international with just two points, which it is imperative to make up for next year.
24RHEIN annotation: 4
Ondrej Duda – Performance data of the Bundesliga season 2021/22
► 31 games
► 2 crack
► 915 ball contacts
► 448 incoming passes, pass rate: 75.8 percent
► 40 shots on goal, goal ratio: 0.05
Source: sport.de; Status: 20.5.22
1. FC Köln: Mathias Olesen and Tomas Ostrak make their professional debuts
With Tomas Ostrak and Mathias Olesen, Baumgart is helping two youth players from Cologne to make their professional debuts. For playmaker Ostrak, who steps onto the pitch of the RheinEnergie Stadium for the first time on the third day of the game, there are five short appearances and one assist at the end of the season. Regardless, the Czech is leaving the billy goats after six years for US Major League Soccer to join St. Louis City SC.
Team-mate Olesen, who primarily plays in the regional league, can get a taste of professional life for the first time on the 27th matchday. According to Baumgart, the central midfielder should gain more game practice with the pros in the future and gradually get used to the level of play in the German Oberhaus. In his personal performance data there are three mini appearances after 34 match days. (md) Fair and independent information about what is happening in NRW – subscribe to our free 24RHEIN newsletter here.