Welcome in to another update from our journey along the River Rhine. Having resigned his post at Sparta Rotterdam in the last episode, Frank Athlete found himself unemployed and hungry for his next job in football management. After many month’s watching from the sidelines, he was finally offered an interview with Bundesliga side, Fortuna Düsseldorf, and having successfully navigated the initial meeting, he was formally offered the position on 6th December 2027 - he gladly accepted. In this update we’ll get to grips with the state of affairs at Düsseldorf and find out how Frank got on come the end of the season. Let’s dive in…
Season Summary
Team: Fortuna Düsseldorf
Division: Bundesliga
Season: 2027/28
Players in: Jaouen Hadjam, Olympique Lyon (€9M); Morten Holst, FC København (€5,75M); Lukas Weißmann, 1. FC Nürnberg (€3.8M)
Players out: Pape Gueye, Darmstadt 98 (€160K); Adam Ounas, Trabzonspor (€725K); Hauke Wahl, Jahn Regensburg (€8K)
Frank joined the Fortunen on 6th December 2027, five days before their next game away at Stuttgart. Before the match though, there was a lot to organise. Several of the playing squad were dissatisfied with their playing time and were seeking moves away from the club, while certain positions, in particular at full back, lacked any kind of squad depth and would need addressing when the transfer window next opened. The side had also managed just one win and three points from their last five league games, leaving them in 12th place on 15 points, just two points above the relegation zone.
Behind the scenes, a number of backroom staff roles had been vacated following Daniel Farke’s departure from the club and so several adverts were placed for new recruits. Per Mertesacker was retained as Head of Youth Development, with another household name, Phil Neville, joining as a coach to help Assistant Manager, Thomas Kleine, and his team in getting the most out of the players.
The Board had requested that Frank play defensively solid football, with a direct and counter attacking style and so he set up with a simple flat back four, a DM on defend, two central midfielders and a front three made up of an inside forward, pressing forward and a winger. The intent was to absorb pressure at the back, creating those counter attacking opportunities for the attacking three to hit teams on the break.
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With little time to prepare for the Stuttgart game, Frank opted to go with the new system and use it as a means to test how things might work going forward. Unfortunately their opponents were more than ready for the encounter, scoring early in the 8th minute and then seeing out the tie with two second half goals to make it 3-0. The final game of the calendar year was at home to Bayer Leverkuesen, who were heavy favourites to win. Despite the odds against them, Frank’s players showed some resilience and after taking an early lead, would secure a decent 2-1 victory as they headed into the winter break.
As the transfer window opened, wide man Adam Ounas secured his exit from the club, alongside defensive midfielders Pape Gueye and Hauke Wahl. With almost €900K generated from player sales, and a transfer kitty of around €10M from the board, Frank was abled to bring three new players, with Weissman able to play as a right sided wing back, Hadjam ready to push for a starting place as a left sided wing back, and Holst offering cover as a defensive midfielder. All three options helped reduce the average age of the squad as well which was crucial as Frank looked to plan for several players that might look to retire in the next season or two.
With the new players now getting settled in the squad, attention turned to the return of the Bundesliga on 9th January. Fortuna opened with a bore draw at home to Hamburg, followed by three back-to-back defeats over the rest of the month. Despite the disappointment with results, it was evident the team were starting to gel and this was further proved with three 1-0 wins in the next few games against Werder, Monchengladbach and Mainz. This good run was followed by consecutive draws against Koln and St. Pauli making it five without defeat.
Although this spell showed flashes of the team’s potential, three defeats followed which demonstrated there was still a lot more work to be done. It must be said that the scheduling gods had not looked favourably on Düsseldorf, grouping Dortmund, Bayern, Leipzig, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg among their last eight fixtures of the season. Despite the odds against them, the team managed a draw against Wolfsburg and an emphatic 4-2 win away at Bayern Munich to end the season on a high, although it should be noted that Bayern had secured the title with 8 games to go and so were presumably already on holiday as the lined up against Fortuna.
Although 13th place is hardly something to shout about, it’s a decent finish when you consider the clear divide between the top half of the table and the bottom hlaf. The ageing squad at Fortuna makes this an exciting project for Frank and his team, provided he’s given the time to build a decent squad. That process is already well underway and it’s going to be very interesting for the fans too as we wait and see how far he can take this historic club going forward.
Results Overview
DFB-Pokal
Prediction: First Round
Actual: First Round (eliminated prior to takeover)
Summary: The fact that the Board had only set the expectation for the DFB-Pokal as reaching the First Round, showed how low a priority the cup was for them this year, which lucky given the manner in which the side had been eliminated.
Best moment: Hard to pick out a best moment since this game took place before Frank had started, but leading by two goals within 20 minutes must have been a plus point.
Low moment: To end up drawing the tie against such low opposition, and having been in control for so much of the game, was a shame to see. To then lose on penalties must have been gutting for the fans, although could also have been a blessing in disguise.
Bundesliga
Prediction: 16th
Actual: 13th (12th at takeover)
Summary: Frank’s appointment offered little more than stability at this early stage, but keeping the club in the top division and avoiding a relegation fight are both positives and have already given the club a solid footing as they look ahead to next season.
Best moment: Hard to look beyond the superb 4-2 win away at Bayern Munich. To come from behind twice and put it beyond doubt after 55 mins is impressive to say the least.
Low moment: Succumbing to defeat against the likes of Hannover 96 and Union Berlin were particularly disappointing as winning those games would have seen Düsseldorf shoot up the table and finish 10th.
Facts and Figures
As you’ll recall from the last post, Sparta Rotterdam’s financial circumstances were a major reason for not renewing their contract offer. The situation at Fortuna Düsseldorf is nowhere near as dire, although there is a small debt of around €10M which will need to be addressed, and should be largely offset by the revenue generated as a result of staying in the top flight.
That said, there is a greater urgency to address the likely challenge facing the playing squad as in the next year or two, a number of the starting XI will be looking to retire. Since their resale value is so low, Frank will be looking to the club to help bring in younger players who can step up into the first team as and when the older players choose to end their careers.
In terms of statistics, a very average season for Fortuna Düsseldorf is reflected in their numbers, where they scored below average in all but one General Performance category against their league counterparts. The exception was 42.86% shots on target, which was 3% better than the league average.
Unsurprisingly, the team performed better than average in defensive categories like blocks, clearances and interceptions, since they spent so much time under pressure from bigger teams. The team ranked 6th in the league for clean sheets, but still managed to concede 1.71 goals per game so this needs looking at if we're to improve next year. In an attacking sense, our dribbling and cross completion were both above average, but shots and expected goals were well below and would both need addressing in the season ahead.
Around the Grounds
In this section we share some of the other stories from elsewhere in the FM universe that have caught the eye this week…
Three Cup Finals - A Tactical Evolution - FM Eadster takes us through the tactical evolution of his setup as he navigates his Portland Timbers side through three cup finals over the course of a season.
Ternana Calcio: 2025/26 - FM Youth Intake reviews his Ternana side’s 2025/26 campaign as he looks to build on the club’s recent successes.
Casual Calcio #3 - Back in the Big Time - Oaky FM provides a long awaited update on how his Catania side have gotten on in their return to the Serie A after a 19 year absence.
Do you have a blog that’s missing from the above list? Please send me the link on Twitter so I can have a read.
Thanks for reading this update, I really hope you enjoyed it. You’ll find more updates from me, as well as blogs from some other fantastic writers at CoffeehouseFM so make sure you check them out. Feel free to leave a comment below, or you can message me @fm_athlete if you feel like getting in touch.
Thanks for coming. I've been FM Athlete. You've been ‘spying the green grass on the other side’. See you next time.