Football Season Guide

Köln come into this season as the reigning second division champions after two seasons away from the top table of German football. Their target this year will therefore be very simple, they will want to survive their first season back in the first Bundesliga and build from there. Köln did not have the most straight forward of campaigns last season but eventually got over the line thanks to some good late form but there will be no opportunity for them to start badly in the top division and they will want to hit the ground running. Head coach Peter Stöger has brought in a couple of extra strikers to give support to Anthony Ujah and Patrick Helmes although neither Simon Zoller nor Yuya Osako are proven in the Bundesliga and they will also have to adjust to the league having played for Kaiserslautern and 1860 München respectively last season. The midfield has also been strengthened with some real quality coming in in the form of Kevin Vogt from Augsburg who has been an important member of that squad for some time while Dusan Svento and Slawomir Peszko will also be good additions. In defence Mergim Mavraj has joined from Fürth but he will add some extra grip to the central defence while Tomas Kalas will look to gain some experience on loan from Chelsea but is highly rated. Overall Stöger has not made that many signings and will hope that the old guard can step up to the higher level with all of the outgoing players moving back down to lower division sides. Their defence was excellent last year and they will try and build from there this season with the main question being whether the back line will be able to stand up as well to the better quality attacks of the Bundesliga.