Bundesliga 2026/27 Tactical Previews | 1. FC Union Berlin | OneFootball

We’ll kick off our Get German Football News 2026/27 Bundesliga tactical previews this season with the very same club that led the pack last season. What’s new in the German capital’s Köpenick quarter? Er. Not much, really. “Eisern” 1. FC Union Berlin have a new coach potentially out of his depth. Matters on the transfer front have been exceedingly quiet throughout the course of the summer. Kicker perhaps put Union’s present philosophy best: “eher in Steine als Beine.” A loose translation intended to preserve the rhyme might read “stones before bones.” Union wish to continue augmenting their stadium and infrastructure. That seems to be the directive this year. As we’ll examine in greater detail, this counts as a legitimate gamble.

Given that there’s plenty of time left in the transfer window, it’s far too early to label this team a relegation candidate. The weak nature of the two promoted Bundesliga sides probably places Union above the relegation fray in any case. The author still sounds a tentative alarm here. Someone at the “cult club” of Nina Hagen might actually have put Hagen in charge of the pre-season scheduling. Union’s scheduled friendlies were in no way conducive to a new coach trying to work out a more up-tempo attacking system. Say what one will about the sacked Steffen Baumgart, at least the tired “method actor” was actively trying to stamp out the “Urs Fischer” echoes in this squad.

1. FC Union Berlin

Can the newly-appointed Mauro Lustrinelli shake out the lingering FCU torpor? Not with the current squad. The roster needs a lot of targeted help. So much uncertainty surrounds the midfield, particularly with reports of team leader Rani Khedira leaving swirling about. Tactically, Lustrinelli initially tried bypassing the need for a strong midfield six axis with a wide rhombus, then a tighter “castle storm”, then a rigid spine, and (finally) a double-pivot. This smacks of desperation and nothing is yet sticking.

In principle, the friendlies did at least make more evident which holes need to be plugged posthaste. Lustrinelli urgently requires wingers and strikers in order to at least get the body situation sorted out. In the absence of midfield personnel certainty, picking a midfield system will suffice. Poor Robert Andrich must be wondering why no one from the FCU office bothers giving him a ring. The club took back Marvin Friedrich, yet doesn’t quite possess the pull to welcome back the disaffected Leverkusen skipper. A pity, as Andrich could solve two personnel problems at once.

“Steine anstatt Beine”? Lustrinelli – for all his historic successes with Swiss side FC Thun – may have just taken the job in the wrong year. A major infrastructure overhaul and a switch to more exciting modern football simply aren’t projects meant to be undertaken simultaneously. As of this filing, Union basically feel like precisely the same team as they were at this stage last season. Not good enough in open play. Above average on set pieces. A squad specifically built to grind out the points.

Major personnel shifts, Union Berlin

Estimated Summer Transfer Balance = -€400,000

This year, it all begins with the dual departure of center backs Danilho Doekhi and Diogo Leite. The end of this particular era saw both mainstays depart on frees. The eventual signing of Zeno van den Bosch provided one rock solid replacement in central defense. Picking van den Bosch’s partner has nevertheless proved more of a challenge than initially thought. Midfield options thin out thanks to the permanent exit of Alex Kral. The Czech international (difficult as it may be to fathom) actually made 20 (mostly relief) appearances last year and enabled his coaches to mix it up off the bench.

More irrelevant losses include striker Chris Bedia and midfielder Laszlo Benes, both of whom spent last season on loan anyway. On the arrival front, the club opted to exercise the €1.5m purchase option on former Hoffenheim central defender Stanley Nsoki. The fact that Benes was the only player who fetched any money (that can be confirmed) means that the Köpenickers are operating with a slight transfer deficit. Friedrich, having largely been a flop at Gladbach, arrived on a free. In a move reminiscent of the “Champions Lease” year, Union are attempting to catch lightning in a bottle with a loan deal for MLS striker Emmanuel Latte Lath.

Notes from pre-season, Union Berlin

FCU actors reported to camp early this year and were accorded a chance to blow off some steam during early friendlies against a pair of amateur Brandenburg teams. Following the non-competitive contests against Optik Rathenow and Grün-Weiß Lübben, it was time to take on more recognizable “Ossie clubs”. Lustrinelli’s men took on Chemnitzer FC and Carl Zeiss Jena. Neither of these tests went particularly well. Lustrinelli deployed his preferred 4-2-2-2 during the opening 45 minutes of the first test fixture. Strikers Andrej Ilic and Marin Ljubicic manufactured a goal. The reserves then conceded an equalizer in the second half.

A short three days later, Lustrinelli’s charges suffered a 0-2 away defeat at Jena. The Thuringians went “Iron Age” on the Irons, exploiting a porous and horribly uncoordinated defense throughout the course of the full 90-minute exhibition. Players committing embarrassing blunders in the first two friendlies included striker Oliver Burke, potential squad leader Aljoscha Kemlein, back-up keeper Matheo Raab, and (most alarmingly) new central defensive signing Zeno van den Bosch. So much for the thin 4-2-2-2, whether it was a wider rhombus or a thinner “castle storm”.

A quick trip down south to Lustrinelli’s native Switzerland then produced two more absolute stinkers. Only a Kemlein penalty could salvage a draw against Winterthur. One day later, a Ljubicic penalty proved insufficient as a weary bunch of Köpenickers fell apart in a 1-2 loss against FC Aarau. A 4-2-3-1 formation worked a tad better this time, but lead striker Ljubicic bottled a couple of big chances and – apart from Korean attacker Woo-Yeong Jeong – nobody on the attacking axes got much of anything going. The “rigid spine” didn’t work either.

One genuinely wonders who in the hell set up Union’s schedule this past offseason. Lustrinelli himself wondered aloud why the agenda featured more friendlies than training sessions. Managing director Horst Heldt acted with great restraint when it came to getting the personnel situation in order. “Steine anstatt Beine” wasn’t in place when Oliver Ruhnert was permitted to snatch up 2022 World Cup stars, though that might be about to change. A brazenly incomplete roster meant that a squad with huge gaps was left hung out to dry.

The lack of confidence in themselves continued to manifest when Union returned to the pre-season pitch two weeks later. Dynamo Dresden ensured that Union failed to secure a win in five consecutive friendlies on August 1st. Back in the 4-2-2-2, “die Eisernen” got off to a serviceable enough start before wilting their way to an overall lackluster performance. Two goals from Dynamo cancelled out an early Tom Rothe opener and Union again succumbed to a 1-2 defeat. Once again, only Jeong displayed some creativity in attack.

Jeong and most of the first-choice players began the next game against Cagliari at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on the bench one day later. Ilyas Ansah had to strike twice off the bench in the final four minutes of the match in order to dig out a 2-2 draw.  This weekend’s friendly heralded some slightly better news.

In order to get the team some more of the requisite practice in, another 135-minute friendly against a Cypriot first-division side was pencilled into the docket. New signing Latte Lath started and scored a tap-in goal. Kemlein and van den Bosch also scored off dead balls in the 3-2 win. Lustrinelli tried out a 4-4-2 double pivot this time. It had little to offer from open play.

Winners from camp, Union Berlin

Woo-Yeong Jeong, ATTM

It admittedly isn’t easy to figure out if the 22-times-capped South Korean international fits into the puzzle. The author can only say that he politely requests that Lustrinelli find some way of making it happen. No other FCU professional put in as much consistent hard effort as Jeong over the course of the dismal pre-season. The 26-year-old should definitely hit the top of the depth chart on both wings if Lustrinelli rolls with either the 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2. In the 4-2-3-1, Jeong should be the go-to-man in the ten slot. Hell, he might work in midfield on the double-pivot.

The former Freiburg and Stuttgart attacker came on strong late last season, ultimately completing his best Bundesliga campaign since the 2021/22 cycle. Jeong’s versatility plays directly into Lustrinelli’s current experimental phase. One can tell that he’s reading the half spaces well, especially whenever serving on the right. The fact that he’s better suited to a centralized deployment may actually serve as an asset. The prospect of Jeong feeding the likes of Livan Burcu and Ilyas Ansah tantalizes. At least one solution to Lustrinelli’s issues presents itself.

Livan Burcu, ATTM

The author never misses out on a chance to write a praise piece about this particular player. The 21-year-old performed well enough in pre-season to keep a permanent place in the starting XI. The sensationally strong manner in which he wrapped up last year’s Bundesliga campaign enabled him to break into the XI anyway. Entering camp, the slot was his to lose. Burcu possesses explosive potential in the final third. His strength on the ball and general creativity render him perhaps the best component of this attack. One definitely looks forward to observing how he’ll develop further this year.

Aljoscha Kemlein, ATTM

The Germany U21 mainstay, as noted above, didn’t get off to the strongest start during the summer preparations. Ultimately, however, his touch caught up with his notable natural pace. The defensive-minded midfielder has also bulked up physically. One can tell he’s been hitting the weights this offseason. It reminds one of Leon Goretzka’s “beef up” during the 2020 pandemic break. The 22-year-old – who will probably inherit the captain’s armband once Christopher Trimmel finally retires –  might find himself working as a No. 8 at some later stage of his career.

Oluwaseun Ogbemudia, CB

Get to know the name. The author is already familiar with the 20-year-old. Ogbemudia showcased some real skill on both sides of the ball during camp, playing himself into the spotlight during the test fixtures. Physically speaking, the kid already looks like a “Mini Dayot Upamecano”. Whether Union decide to retain him on the roster or park him elsewhere in a developmental loan locale, a bright future awaits this young prospect. Bank it and book it. The author sees more crunching tackles and line clearances from this talent.

Carl Klaus, GK

With No. 1 Frederik Rønnow battling injury and Matheo Raab likely wanting to take his competitive spirit elsewhere, the 32-year-old “rookie” once again receives a glorious opportunity to pick up some minutes between the sticks. Recent reports suggest that Rønnow may miss the start of competitive play. The career journeyman backup may well claim regular status in Rønnow’s absence. It’s very important to note that Klaus’ cold performances in his three consecutive starts at the end of last season were all noteworthy. Klaus possesses a strong paw.

Losers from camp, Union Berlin

Oliver Burke, LS

So much about the Scotsman repeatedly fails to make sense. The 29-year-old is simply on or off. We just witnessed another year during which his goal contributions came in fits and starts. Burke’s better matches come in clusters. As last season’s speed record demonstrates, Burke possesses tremendous pace to accompany that burly frame of his. The toolbox overflows for a man who simply looks (and occasionally acts) like the prototypical footballer. The author doesn’t know what to say anymore. He’s gifted. He’s brimming with potential. For whatever reason, he’s also been loaned out 5,679 times.

Burke simply looks lumbering at times. He commits inexplicable tactical and positional errors that fall under “the basics” category. He’s downright criminal with his touch at times. He spurns numerous gilt-edged chances. Intellectual blackouts seem to plague Burke’s game. His crossing constitutes the best example of this. It’s merely uncanny at times. Perhaps that’s something for him to ponder on his 5,680th loan. The author feels like he’s written about that many articles on him.

Marin Ljubicic, CF

Apropos players headed back out on loan, the player Fortuna Düsseldorf have little to thank for might as well keep his bags packed. If he cares to literally  implement a famous German metaphor, just as Thomas Tuchel once did, he might as well sit on said bags as well. Ljubicic concludes a second consecutive summer camp season in which he couldn’t demonstrate his value to the club. Ljubicic racked up a few tallies in the non-competitive friendlies, then added two more once the more serious fixtures got started. It still wasn’t good enough.

Most of Ljubicic’s bad misses are documented above. It appears the only thing that might keep Ljubicic in Köpenick concerns the fact that others ahead of him on the chopping block (Robert Skov, Janik Haberer, Tim Skarke, and all the park-able youth prospects) might take precedence. There also might not be any takers if Union remain steadfast about trying to recoup at least some part of the €4.5m they paid for him during the winter 2025 transfer window. It could prove the case that Ljubicic receives a…erm…”fourth chance”.

Andrik Markgraf, LWB

The poor lad who made it into the “Winners Category” last year got hurt again in the first meaningful friendly against Chemnitz. A reported ACL tear means that the 20-year-old won’t be making his inaugural Bundesliga appearance anytime soon. A shame as this season happened to be the perfect time to solidify second place behind Derrick Köhn. For reasons we’ll get into a bit more below, defensive up-and-comers can genuinely hope to collect minutes on this squad. For the time being, spare a care for the kid with the ultra regal, high nobility title last name.

No, the author doesn’t know what “Markgraf” translates to in English.

“High Count”?

Tom Rothe, CB

Rothe’s inclusion here isn’t to suggest that the talented youngster who suddenly popped up in Marco Rose’s BVB squad one fine April day has tanked hard. The former member of Marcel Rapp’s 2. Bundesliga “Sprinting Storks” still scored two goals for Union in 21 league appearances last season. The problem is that he started only ten of those Bundesliga fixtures. After losing his starting spot on matchday four of the 2025/26 campaign, Rothe didn’t return to a regular role in the XI until the end of the season.

One also surmises that – since he didn’t get consideration for one of the two defensive positions he’s qualified to play this summer – something must be up. To the author’s knowledge, he’s not hurt or anything. Something is nevertheless keeping him away from the races for both the starting center back and left back slots. There was a time when all of us Bundesliga fanatics remained convinced that Rothe would be a Bundesliga starter someday. For whatever reason, that hasn’t materialized.

Leopold Querfeld, CB

To round out the topic of players simply not receiving consideration for spots that should be up for grabs, what’s going on here? When one thinks of Querfeld, one’s thoughts immediately turn to that Belter he scored in the historic 4-4 draw with Stuttgart on matchday 30 of the 2024/25 campaign. After that, one’s thoughts turn to an immensely gifted center back who seemed on an inevitable upward trajectory. Querfeld emerged as a penalty taker last season and added seven more goals across all competitions. He was also a beast of a dueler, both on the ground and in the air.

Late last year, his positional play began to appear off and he eventually found his way to the bench last season. Culpable on several penalties, he was relegated to the bench in two of the last three matchdays. All told, this qualifies as little more than a “mini-slump”. Nsoki’s injury has Querfeld reclaiming his starting place for now, but he’ll have to work harder to retain it. Someone, possibly Rothe himself, could replace him before the season starts. 

Tactical scout, Union Berlin

Before projecting our very first lineup of the season, we must again reiterate that this project has begun much earlier than in years past. Treating the DFB Pokal as a “soft opener” (as most Bundesliga clubs do) means there’s a total of one more warm-up fixture and plenty of training sessions for players to prove themselves. That’s to say nothing of the injuries and transfers that can occur between now and the start of the season.

If the author learned anything from the deep scout of Union, it’s that Lustrinelli located his best set of tactics with the double midfield pivot. The graphic below makes several assumptions. One assumes that Querfeld will be the one to partner with van den Bosch in Nsoki’s absence.   It’s also treated as a foregone conclusion that Latte Lath can almost immediately slide into the support striker role intended for the speedy Burke.

Squad captain Christopher Trimmel, one conjectures, will rotate in for Josip Juranovic just about every other match. The biggest matter that could shake this whole thing up, naturally, is if de facto skipper Rani Khedira departs. The fact that Union are actively pursuing another midfielder to work where Kemlein lies strongly suggests Khedira’s FCU tenure is drawing to a close. They probably want to play Kemlein higher up.

Lineup-FCU (PROJECTED)

On paper, it’s certainly not the worst XI one will observe in the Bundesliga this season. The issue of depth nonetheless crops up again. Even if Khedira remains, the team still lacks a true roving box-to-box midfielder in addition to the aforementioned backup options in attack. The switch to a back four renders this a serious issue as the speed of someone like Derrick Köhn becomes less relevant in the absence of some forward momentum in the middle of the park. That issue applies to Latte Lath as well. Juranovic and Trimmel have little pace to offer in the first place.

Getting two to three quality new signings capable of serving on the first team won’t prove easy under the “Steine anstatt Beine” directive. The work of bringing in new bodies in earnest also can’t begin until Horst Heldt gets some of the bloat off this payroll. The FCU managing director won’t find it easy to find takers for some of the players listed above. As it stands now, we’re definitely not looking at a mid-table Bundesliga squad. This team looks set up for the relegation race if the personnel issues aren’t resolved.

A poor run of form could definitely snowball into something cataclysmic.

GGFN | Peter Weis