Arminia Bielefeld, der Pokalfinale, und a reborn awaits
There's more to Arminia's story than just simply a 3. Liga side who made it to the 2025 DFB-Pokal final.
It’s early Wednesday morning, Australian time. I had planned to get up early in anticipation of Arminia Bielefeld’s DFB-Pokal semi-final clash with the defending champion Bayer Leverkusen, hoping to catch the match live with my friend like any other Bielefeld fans and followers who were excited for it. Yet, my body rejected that notion as I continued my snooze fest until way past the match.
Having been a fan of Southampton, another underdog team who have been to a couple of cup semi-finals and finals in the last 10 years, my gut feelings were just “this is going to be a walkover for Leverkusen”. It is slightly harder for me to believe in “the cupset” in recent years after working in football for a while. I know how much preparation teams do nowadays, especially for an important cup match like this, from training sessions, to video and data analysis of the opposition. Combine that with the huge difference in quality between Arminia and Leverkusen, and the fact that Xabi Alonso’s team have been good in the recent couple of seasons, it is hard for a newly-reborn Arminia to cause any upset. (I will get to why I used the phrase “newly-reborn” for Arminia later on)
But, as I opened Fotmob to check the score, I was stunned and surprised like many did. Arminia Bielefeld 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen. Michél Kniat’s team had done it, they have eliminated the 4th 1. Bundesliga side to advance to the Pokalfinale. It is a significant achievement for the club, especially considering they have experienced a rough period in the last three seasons. Not to mention this is also the season where Arminia are celebrating their 120th year. It felt like a dream, a dream that, I guess, the people of Bielefeld do not want to end after a three-season-long nightmare.
Arminia’s Bundesliga journey
It was not that long ago when Arminia played in the Bundesliga. In fact, they got promoted to the top flight back in 2019/20 and spent two seasons competing against the best teams in Germany. Their first season back in the Bundesliga was a near-death experience as they finished just two points off the relegation play-off spot, and they were spared due to Schalke 04’s financial problems and Werder Bremen’s inconsistency on the pitch under Florian Kohfeldt.
It was also the season when my friend dragged me on the Arminia train as he introduced me to this small club who achieved promotion without a lot of resources and a fairytale story behind them. As someone who has a soft spot for underdogs, I was immediately intrigued and started watching more of Arminia’s matches with my friend as time went on. During a period when Southampton started to regress and became less fun to watch, Arminia’s journey in the Bundesliga became something refreshing to enjoy for me.
The way that Arminia’s first season back in the Bundesliga unfolded, though, would become something of a familiar sight for the seasons to come. Uwe Neuhaus was the manager who brought the club back to the top flight and also helped them won their first 2. Bundesliga title since the 1998/99 season. But he could not replicate his magic in the Bundesliga as he left them at 16th on the table, with just 18 points after 22 matches. They were essentially in a fight-or-die situation to avoid relegation, so a change was needed. Frank Kramer came in for the remainder of the 2020/21 season, did just enough to keep the club afloat by winning 4 and drawing 5 of their last 12 matches.
In his second season with the club, Kramer just replicated what Neuhaus did after they returned to the top flight. According to Fotmob, both Neuhaus and Kramer only got 0.8 and 0.9 points per game in their only full season with the club in the Bundesliga respectively, with Kramer had a worse win percentage (17%) than Neuhaus (23%), but Kramer had a lot more time as he took charge of 30 out of 34 Bundesliga matches in the 2021/22 season. The club made the decision to relieve Kramer of his duties too late and his interim replacement, Marco Kostmann, could not do any better to keep their Bundesliga journey alive.
Arminia’s approach to player recruitment was also interesting. Without a lot of resources to spend in their seasons back in the top flight, the club, led by sporting director Samir Arabi, chose to focus on finding young and raw players, and gave them a place to play first-team football while also improving their ability. Arabi’s work significantly benefitted the club in previous years, and it was not an exception during their Bundesliga seasons either, but I think their recruitment work was done too quick and that had a negative effect on the pitch.
A few Arminia players have gone on to play at higher levels like Stefan Ortega at Manchester City, Amos Pieper at Werder Bremen, Patrick Wimmer at Wolfsburg, Ritsu Dōan at Freiburg, or Robin Hack at Borussia Mönchengladbach. And granted, Arminia had the weakest squad in the league during their first season back in the Bundesliga, so reinforcements were absolutely necessary for the club to survive. But many clubs fall into the trap of having a lot of player turnovers within a short period of time, especially when second-division teams secure promotion to the top flight and they realise their squad is not capable of competing against better teams. This approach, while can improve the quality of the squad in the short-term, can destabilise the harmony and bonding of the squad, which then leads to a decrease in on-field performance. And Arminia were not immune to this.
Compare Arminia’s squads between the 2019/20 and the 2021/22 seasons and the first thing that jumps out is how different each squad was from the other two seasons. The club replaced most of the team that won the 2. Bundesliga title while also let a lot of those players left for free, including current French international Jonathan Clauss to RC Lens. Their second season’s transfer activity was quite the same with a lot of players left on a free transfer, while the club spent close to €9.5 million to bring in a total of 15 players within just two windows. While they made that money back through the sales of Wimmer to Wolfsburg (€5 million), Hack to Gladbach (€1.1 million!?), and Florian Krüger to Groningen (€1.3 million), that was still an unsustainable way of recruiting players and the money only came back in the two seasons afterwards, where they did another rebuilding of the squad.
You will be forgiven for saying that Arminia were (and are) playing Football Manager or EAFC and are having turnovers like it is nobody’s matter. Because they really are doing that. I am not a financial analyst to analyse how much money the club had lost, but just by looking at the surface, which is their transfers in the past 4 to 5 seasons, it is still easy to see that their current way of doing things is not sustainable.
The nightmare continues
Damage control and containing the fall was the name of the game for Arminia’s returned season (2022/23) to the 2. Bundesliga. They dropped down with a much stronger squad compared to their squad for the 2019/20 season as they were at least successful in retaining a lot of players from their previous season. But it was always going to be a challenge for the club since the 2. Bundesliga was now a different beast with stronger clubs dropping down from the Bundesliga and they all wanted to get back up to the top flight.
They were, once again, forced into another rebuild of the squad with many players, understandably, wanted to leave after the club got relegated. With a rebuild came so soon after the previous two, it hit the squad’s confidence and harmony hard with the new players had to take some time to gel with the group while the players who chose to stay only started to bond with the rest of the squad. Even though the majority of signings for the 2022/23 season were experienced players who have played in the Bundesliga or the 2. Bundesliga like Bastian Oczipka, Lukas Klünter, and Marc Rzatkowski, they did not bring the effect that many had expected them to.
Managerial inconsistency was also another main cause of Arminia’s fall, with new manager Uli Forte being sacked just 4 games into the season. Without knowing what happened within the dressing room, Forte’s sacking was somewhat justified from a fan perspective. Forte lost all 4 matches that he took charge in the 2. Bundesliga, and his only win in the first round of the DFB-Pokal was not enough to convince Arabi and the board. If I remember correctly, the team also looked unimpressive on the pitch, even against oppositions that Arminia should have won like Jahn Regensburg, Sandhausen, and Hansa Rostock.
Daniel Scherning swiftly came in and things did slightly improve with a slightly better style of play. But with just 1.1 points per game and a 32% win percentage (according to Fotmob), along with Arminia even reached bottom of the 2. Bundesliga table between round 10 and 16, the club were forced to make a change once more, which did not help the squad confidence and the players were forced to adapt to a different playing style of Uwe Koschinat, the manager who was chosen to replace Scherning.
Ultimately, Koschinat still could not turn the club’s fortune around with 1.2 points per game and a 27% win percentage. So…barely an improvement. When Koschinat came in, the club were in 15th, they did improve their standing by jumped up to 14th. But a string of 4 losses and 2 draws in their last 7 matches pushed them back down to 16th, where the club lost in the relegation play-off to Wehen Wiesbaden.
Within just two seasons, Arminia now found themselves in the 3. Liga, the third division of German football and the last division where all clubs are professional. And once more, the club went into rebuild mode, but this time they started from the top. Samir Arabi left his position as the club’s sporting director and was replaced by Michael Mutzel, while Koschinat was relieved to make way for Michél Kniat from SC Verl. With the playing squad, the snapshot below probably tell the extent of Arminia’s rebuild during the 23/24 season.
It pains me to see all of the players departed on a free transfer, especially when quite a few of the players on the departure list like Guilherme Ramos, George Bello, or Jomaine Consbruch could have yielded some profit for Arminia. But at least Mutzel had done a decent job of replacing the departed players with free transfers from other clubs. Interestingly, it seemed as if Arminia had gone back to their approach of buying young players and give them a chance in the first team. But their focus had now shifted towards local players from top academies like Jonas Kersken from Mönchengladbach, Max Großer from Hamburg, Leon Schneider from Köln, and Louis Oppie from Hannover.
As with previous rebuild attempts, Arminia did not find success straight away with a tough first season for Kniat and his team as they finished 14th out of 20 3. Liga teams, with just six points separated between Arminia and the 17th-placed Hallescher, who were one of the four teams who got relegated. In fact, Kniat’s first season was not better than what Scherning and Koschinat did in the 2. Bundesliga as he only gained 1.2 points per game with a 29% win percentage.
A sign of a reborn?
All of that misery and nightmare have led Arminia to today. At the time of writing, Arminia are 4th on the 3. Liga table and are firmly in the race for promotion, with just a point separated them from the play-off that sent them back down to the 3. Liga two seasons ago. Furthermore, their historic DFB-Pokal run has not stopped after they eliminated perennially-2. Bundesliga side Hannover in the first round, then went on to shock a regressing Union Berlin in the second round, high-flying Freiburg in the third round, consistent Werder Bremen in the quarter-final, and now the former champion Leverkusen in the semi-final to make it four Bundesliga teams that they had to overcome to secure a ticket to the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
In all honesty, this season could have turned out a lot differently for Arminia had they stuck with their ways of the previous seasons. Other managers like Kramer, Scherning, and Koschinat were relieved of their duties with a similar record to Kniat’s first season with Arminia. The club’s higher-ups could have easily dismissed Kniat, but it seems like they are happy to be patient and give him more time with this group of young players. The recruitment side of things have also slowed down, there were still a decent number of players who came through, but Mutzel and Kniat might have found a core of players that they want to head towards the future with.
Last season, a club legend bid farewell to the club as Fabian Klos hung up his boots after saving the club from sliding further down to the Regionalliga. It was a full circle for Klos, who joined Arminia when they were in the 3. Liga back in the 2011-12 season. After taking the club through the heights of winning the 2. Bundesliga and two seasons in the Bundesliga, he returned to the 3. Liga with the club, saved them from sliding further down, and ended a bittersweet chapter for him and Arminia.
Using the word reborn might sound a bit overexaggerating, but I believe Arminia have been “reborn” from where they started. Klos’ retirement closed a chapter that had seen the highs and lows, and with the club celebrating their 120th year, it just seems to be the right time for Mutzel, Kniat, and the rest of the club to start a new chapter of their own and actually get things done the right way this time. This DFB-Pokal run is more than just an underdog shocking top-flight clubs, but everyone at the club and the people of Bielefeld will hope that it will also kickstart a rise through the divisions as they aim to stay in the Bundesliga for longer than two seasons and get out of that relegation battle once they have settled in Germany’s top flight.