Football Season Guide

Holstein Kiel’s first season in the second division almost ended with a fairy-tale story as the small team from the north of Germany finished third, but fell at the playoff stage. The signs are that the second season will be far tougher though as their squad has become weaker and other sides are used to the way they play. Kiel’s main strength last season was their goal scoring and they ended the season with the most by a margin of 10 goals. But with Dominik Drexler and Marvin Ducksch both leaving the club, 30 of their 71 goals have already departed. The replacements for that incredibly important pair of players look far weaker. Janni Serra, like Ducksch was trained at Borussia Dortmund, but arrives without the experience and pedigree Ducksch had when he joined. Aside from the attacking heart of the team being ripped out, captain Rafael Czichos was also poached in pre-season by former coach Markus Anfang at his new club Köln. New Kiel head coach Tim Walter certainly has plenty to work on in his first job as coach of a senior team. In addition to some key personnel moving on, the squad has been thinned out with a few senior members of the squad being released to play for lower division sides. With the quality of the squad this season much lower and a new coach in charge, Kiel may actually find themselves going from one end of the table to the other. Certainly the weight of the team will be carried by some of the remaining stars from last season. Kingsley Schindler and Steven Lewerenz in attack and Dominik Schmidt at the back will be the most important members of the team.