Our next opponents: FC Nürnberg and defensive deficits

Position

Friendships can sometimes be painful. The close relationship between supporters of FC Nürnberg and Schalke 04 was evident when the sides last met with a joint choreography before kick-off. But the action on the pitch was then unbalanced encounter with the newcomers from Franconia on the wrong end of a 5-2 hammering – although the coach Michael Köllner, talking about his team afterwards, said they had "played a good game." And that was not the only positive for FCN at the end of the weekend: As the competition at the bottom the table were pointless, the Club  are where they would want to be at the end of the season in fifteenth position above the drop zone. The fact that is a definite possibility is demonstrated by the courageous performances of the Köllner team – even if there has been a downward trend recently. FC Nürnberg have gone six games without a win in the Bundesliga. The only successful outing in recent weeks was: Progress to the DFB Cup Round of 16 thanks to a win over third division Hansa Rostock on penalties.

Personnel

Even as a newly promoted team and outsiders, Köllner adopts a very attacking approach and often plays two strikers up front. The heart of the team is however – regardless of tactics – the captain Hanno Behrens (pictured above) who is the driving force in central midfield in transitional play. He also gets involved with attacking moves as well as providing the link to the defence. Köllner has often played the 20-year-old Simon Rhein alongside him this term. The hard-running holding midfielder spent almost all of his time as a youth player at Bayer 04 going through all the junior sides over 12 years before moving to Nuremberg last season. The coach Köllner has certainly profited from Rhein's education at Bayer Leverkusen. Bayer 04 could, to a certain extent, thank the Club for another player in the Nürnberg squad. Just before the transfer window closed, the Franconians signed the Dutchman Virgil Misidjan from the Werkself's group opponents Ludogorets Rasgrad and  indirectly ensured the Bulgarian club's best player of recent seasons was unable to show his evident class in the Europa League against Leverkusen. Heiko Herrlich's team face that test on Monday. Even if Misidjan is not always in the starting eleven he has shown that the gap between Bulgaria and the Bundesliga is not that big.

ProblemS

Seven goals conceded in Dortmund, six in Leipzig and five against the recently misfiring Schalke: It doesn't take long to uncover the problem areas in the Nürnberg game. With a total of 29 goals against, the Franconians have the leakiest defence in the league and, away from home,  FCN have made it far to easy for the opponents to shoot on goal. A further difficulty for Köllner against the Werkself is the absence of two regular defenders. Right back Robert Bauer was sent off at Schalke for two bookable offences and is suspended for Monday's game; goalkeeper Christian Mathenia suffered a knee injury in an attempt to clear the ball before the first goal and the shot-stopper is ruled out for the rest of the first half of the season. Mathenia will replaced in goal by Fabian Bredlow who started the season as the first-choice keeper but was dropped after the two clear defeats in Dortmund and Leipzig.

PotenTial

When Köllner started his job as the FCN head coach in March 2017, he was still responsible for the academy at FC Nürnberg. His past as a youth coach – including spells with Germany U15 team and the Bavaria state side – should make itself felt in the first team squad. The promotion of  Simon Rhein from the reserves to the Bundesliga starting eleven is an example of that development and Köllner has made the homegrown youngster Lukas Mühl an indispensable part of the team with the 21-year-old playing in central defence. FC Nürnberg  remains an attractive option for young, up-and-coming players from outside the club as well. The Bayer 04 legend Stefan Kießling progressed his career from there as did Ilkay Gündogan and Niclas Füllkrug.

Prediction

Everybody at FC Nürnberg  is aware the glory days of the nine-time German champions are unlikely to return. The former record champions are now 'only' the most-relegated team in the Bundesliga as well as the record promoted team to the top flight. The target for the Franconians is clear: If possible, neither total should increase as the former big team from Nuremberg is looking to establish a position in the Bundesliga after four years away from Germany's top flight. A task that could well prove to be tricky in this first season and could involve a relegation battle into the late spring. Nevertheless, the Köllner team have show in games against fellow strugglers that they are capable of taking on the challenges in the fight for survival.