Bornemann hails Freiburg's success model: "The best example of Bundesliga development."
After his current club secured their first Bundesliga victory, the Freiburg native reflected on the sustained Bundesliga success of his hometown club.
| Photo: Cameron Smith |
Long before hie became a German football administrator, FC St. Pauli sporting director Andreas Bornemann fought his way up from the SC Freiburg amateurs all the way up to the first team. The 53-year-old knows a thing or two about beating the odds as a player. His association with the "Schwarzwaldverein" also enabled him to glean some lessons on how a smaller-market club can enjoy sustained Bundesliga success.
The club Bornemann currently manages seek to avoid the pitfalls of their last short stay in Germany's top footballing flight. Until last week, it looked as if Hamburg's "Kiezkicker" weren't on course to survive their first Bundesliga season in 13 years. The paradigm has now shifted, however. A new tactical formation put in a spirited performance against Leipzig last Sunday.
On Saturday, two of head-coach Alexander Blessin's new starters registered tallies in St. Pauli's 3-0 defeat of Freiburg. Hamburg-native Elias Saad bagged a brace while English journeyman Oladapo Afolayan also opened his Bundesliga account. Boremann's "Piraten" certainly enjoyed, their fair share of luck in the win, but nevertheless secured a massive three points thanks to their new 3-4-3.
"[Saad and Afolyan] have now broken through," Bornemann remarked in a post-match interview with Sky Germany, "[Saad] has really kicked it up a notch. We're making the most of what we've got, running hard with aggression and intensity."
When it came time to reflect on his return to the academy side near his hometown that enabled him to launch his footballing career, the St. Pauli manager took the opportunity to connect his current club's aspirations with the accomplishments of his former one. The Breisgauer - European participants in back-to-back years prior to this season - weren't always a club one associated with regular top flight success.
"I'm from Freiburg," Bozeman noted, "I know the old stadium and the new one. They're perhaps the best example of the rapid development of the Bundesliga in recent years. And if one [St. Pauli] haven't been there for 13 years, then there's a lot of ground for us to make up."