Energie Cottbus
August 8, 2006
"We're not strong enough to stay in the first division on our own," Sander said. "We'll need help from other clubs.
Cottbus' strategy thus far has been to disrupt the flow of play in midfield, turning games into wrestling matches. That's a good way to pick up draws against stronger opposition, but it doesn't bring the wins a team ultimately needs to survive in the top flight.
In an effort to improve on their 17 points in 17 games, Cottbus brought in creative midfielder Ervin Skela during the winter break, but he's out until at least mid-February with an undisclosed blood ailment.
Cottbus will put up a fight, but most observers predict them to drift down into the bottom three.
The Roster
Goal: André Thoms, Tomislav Piplica, Gerhard Tremmel
Defense: Sidney, Kevin McKenna, Mariusz Kukielka, Vragel da Silva, Zoltan Szelesi, Benjamin Schöckel, Mario Cvitanovic
Midfield: Timo Rost, Lawrence Aidoo, Sebastian Schuppan, Daniel Ziebig, Tomasz Bandrowski, Daniel Gunkel, Vlad Munteanu, Ervin Skela
Strikers: Steffen Baumgart, Francis Kioyo, Jiayi Shao, Stiven Rivic, Lars Jungnickel, Christof Neumann, Sergiu Radu, Marco Küntzel
(as of January 2007)