Football Season Guide

Kaiserslautern were promotion chasers for a lot of last season, but were lacking in defensive solidity to make it happen. Things were ticking along nicely until spring hit and results began to suffer. The club decided to replace coach Angfang with four games remaining with late hope of restoring their promotion charge. Replacement Lieberknecht was unable to achieve this despite an upturn in form. The Red Devils are getting closer to the big time again after a long and sometimes painful exodus from the top-flight. The last time they were there was 2012 and there is hope that the dream can be fulfilled this coming campaign. Coach Lieberknecht has achieved promotion with Darmstadt in recent years, so could be the man for the job, especially after a full summer of planning. Despite the loss of Key frontman Ache, Kaiserslautern look in good shape for the upcoming campaign. Recruitment has been positive so far with many of the newcomers having played consistently well at this level. These include midfielders Sahin and Kunze, forwards Prtajin and Emreli, and right-back Asta. Defence could still be an area of weakness, but the loan signing of highly-rated centre-back Ji-soo Kim should help. If they can integrate the new players quickly, Kaiserslautern should be a good team to watch this year. A big home support can also be a bonus if things are going well.