Rani Khedira and the lessons from Union’s near relegation

Since the desolate last season, Rani Khedira has had very sensitive antennae. In terms of his body, but especially in terms of the atmosphere in the team. Last season, too many people started doing their own thing when 1. FC Union Berlin slipped into crisis in the fall. “Now we are very stable as a group. We don’t fall apart in the game,” said the midfield organizer on Wednesday during a media round.

Five games without a win, four without a goal of her own, most recently a 0-1 loss at VfL Wolfsburg – Khedira is not satisfied with the past few weeks. “Of course we’re going through a bit of a dry spell right now. We are aware that we score too few goals,” he said. But that is not a reason to panic.

Thanks to the good start to the season, Union is still in a good position in the table, but what is much more important for Khedira is the feeling on the pitch and in the dressing room. “In the training sessions you notice a certain dissatisfaction, a greed. “Those were two very intense days,” said Khedira happily.

The vice-captain recently saw the main reason for the offensive harmlessness in the lack of determination in the opponent’s penalty area. “We get chances, but in the final third we lack the precision and assertiveness, the greed to get in front of the opponent,” said Khedira.

After last season, when he was injured for a long time and never really got going, he has now found his way back to his old strength. Khedira gives Union balance in the center of midfield, protects, organizes and directs. Most recently, Aljoscha Kemlein was placed next to him; he could get a different partner on Saturday against Leverkusen.

The 20-year-old homegrown player missed training on Tuesday due to muscular problems. A medical examination gave the all-clear and Kemlein trained again on Wednesday, but it could be that Union will give him a break at the weekend as a precaution.

Khedira thinks highly of his young colleague, but he is not worried about an impending failure. “We have a very high level of competition. Even the players who haven’t played at all or only played a little behave perfectly. The quality of training is very high,” said Khedira.

The fact that Leverkusen and Stuttgart are now “two really tough guys” doesn’t make the situation any easier for Union. Khedira still remains positive: “We are playing against Leverkusen at home. That was always a great strength of ours and we have regained it.”