Marked for Daniel Richter
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Arminia Bielefeld, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Jonas Kersken was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Arminia Bielefeld training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aaron Zehnter is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match16 Jan 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Jan 2027
9 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Jonas Kersken has given nobody the chance.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Arminia Bielefeld, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match2 Jan 2027
After 8 games, Arminia Bielefeld finally taste it again
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Dynamo Dresden; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Jonas Kersken and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Daniel Richter is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lazio have kept their man, and Arminia Bielefeld go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Maximilian Bauer falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arminia Bielefeld may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Arminia Bielefeld training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximilian Bauer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marvin Mehlem and Arminia Bielefeld agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Jonas Kersken and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Arminia Bielefeld game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Inhulets runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leon Schneider, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Hannover 96 next, and one man in the Arminia Bielefeld dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Leon Schneider is on it.