“Everyone has to grow beyond themselves”

Braydon Manu and Mathias Honsak will miss the weekend. We were hoping that Braydon would be able to return to team training this week. However, that will hopefully be postponed until next week, when Honsak should also join in again. Tobias Kempe is in training after his flu-like infection, but is not yet an option for Saturday. Gerrit Holtmann will also not be there against Stuttgart due to muscular problems. Jannik Müller and Bartol Franjic trained individually this week, with Bartol able to return to team training yesterday. We assume that there are no big question marks behind either of them with a view to Saturday. Clemens Riedel and Fraser Hornby are also missing with long-term injuries, but their rehab progress looks good. Tim Skarke and Matej Maglica are not available due to their yellow card suspensions.

We presented ourselves well in Gladbach and kept a clean sheet. For us, it’s also about the attitude we show. Of course three points would help more. But one point in the constellation was fine. The boys implemented what we had prepared well, especially defensively. The game showed once again that we are capable of getting our points in the first division.

We want to win the game. And we believe we can win against Stuttgart. We need this firm faith. We would be very happy with one point, but we would prefer three. That’s why we strive for this. To achieve this, we need a top performance as a team and have to deliver a perfect game. In addition, everyone has to individually grow beyond themselves in their position. We will also come into situations against Stuttgart, third in the league, where we need that little bit of luck to get through them. We will therefore try to invest everything again.

VfB Stuttgart has a lot of gamblers and free spirits in the team and an overall good mix in the team. Their style of play is similar to that of Bayer Leverkusen, they play in high possession with a similar structure with little contact between the rows. This also has to do with the fact that after last season we were able to free the boys‘ minds and awaken their enthusiasm for the game. This is primarily the responsibility of the coach who made it work with his coaching team. A clear trainer’s handwriting can be seen and they are right where they are now.

I think everything is still doable. Our goal remains to stay in the league – there are still two ways to achieve this. I believe that anyway. We already had phases in the second half of the season in which some things seemed much more mature and grown-up. We have certainly already spoken in team meetings about the fact that we need to bring an all-in mentality at certain points, but we must not become headless.

Marvin Mehlem needs the minutes to get back into his rhythm. The game in Gladbach and the training week were a step forward. He is someone who can steal the ball in an unorthodox way and thus helps the team. If he manages to finish these balls cleanly, he is someone who is totally valuable to us.

Deniz played his first professional game under me in Braunschweig, but otherwise played in the second team at Eintracht and scored goals there. Deniz has this nose for goals. He is currently on the way to becoming a German national player. I wish that for him too. He developed really well because he always believed in himself.