What's the personnel situation like at Darmstadt? How is the team dealing with their current sporting situation? And what are Fortuna Düsseldorf's strengths? Florian Kohfeldt answered these and other questions at the press conference before the 23rd matchday of the second division. We've summarised the most important statements from the Darmstadt head coach for you.
Personnel update: Bartosz Bialek and Matthias Bader remain sidelined. Fraser Hornby and Isac Lidberg are both fully available again.
We have a wealth of options in terms of personnel – not just in attack, but also in the holding midfield position and in central defence. Niklas Schmidt impressively demonstrated in Braunschweig what a quality player he can be for us. We’re not currently discussing central defence that much, but my appreciation for Vuko remains undiminished. Overall, our personnel situation is a luxury, but also a very positive one for us. And that speaks well of our squad planning in the summer and the improvements made by Paul Fernie in the winter.
It’s incredibly important for us as a coaching team to have rational parameters for our personnel decisions. These are based on the players‘ abilities and form, but it’s also about what we need against the specific opponent. For example, Fynn Lakenmacher started against Kaiserslautern because we needed a target man. In Braunschweig, our plan was to find more depth behind the defence with Killian Corredor. Furthermore, it’s the responsibility of the entire team to ensure that decisions for or against a player don’t negatively impact team cohesion.
We’re facing a very strong defensive team that has become much more stable in the second half of last season. They went into the season aiming for promotion and have a lot of individual quality in their squad – many top players like Itten, Muslija, Appelkamp, Tanaka, plus a number of good centre-backs. Their footballing approach isn’t entirely clear, but they’re developing into a pressing team. Against Münster, they played very aggressively, man-to-man, while in Karlsruhe they used significantly more zonal and midfield pressing. We’ll prepare our team for both. Offensively, they rely primarily on their crosses, and with Itten, they have both the target man and one of the best box players in the league in the middle.
As in every second division match, we’re facing a tough opponent. For us, it’s crucial to create fast-paced attacking moves. That’s not so easy against Düsseldorf. Defensively, we need to protect our wings well to prevent crosses. At the same time, we need to have good man-marking in the box.
The team’s greatest strength is that we focus on the next event week after week. After the game in Braunschweig, our immediate focus was on Düsseldorf. After the game against Düsseldorf, it will immediately be on Dresden again. We’ve agreed on clear values for how we want to interact with each other during the week. The players also made a clear commitment before the season to how we want to work together. We’re concentrating on how we want to work. Creating this culture takes time. Now it’s about maintaining this culture. But that’s not difficult at the moment because the team is fully committed to it.
We addressed the issue of throw-ins clearly. In Braunschweig, the goals we conceded and the scoring opportunities we missed didn’t arise because the opponent outplayed us or because we lost one-on-one duels. They resulted from our failure to execute the basics well. That was the most frustrating thing in Braunschweig. On the one hand, I have to give the team immense praise for how they dealt with everything surrounding and during the game and ultimately came home with a point. That was fantastic. Nevertheless, we simply can’t concede goals like that.
Autographs, photos, and personal encounters with the Lilies: You'll have the opportunity to do so on Thursday (May 7th) from 5pm to 6pm. As part of an autograph session presented by Merck, Patric Pfeiffer, Kai Klefisch, and Fynn Lakenmacher will be at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. You'll also receive a ten percent discount in the fan shop during this time.
Darmstadt's 2-1 defeat at Karlsruher SC also ended any remaining theoretical hopes the South Hessian club had of finishing the season in the top three. The loss at the Wildpark stadium served somewhat as a symbol for the past few weeks, during which SV 98 had only managed one point from five matches since the international break in March. Following the game on Sunday afternoon, the Darmstadt players addressed the assembled media representatives with mixed feelings.
Three points! SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team secured a victory in the Lotto Hessenliga on Saturday afternoon (May 2nd). In their match against Hünfelder SV, the young Lilies overcame an early deficit to clinch a convincing 3-1 win. This result puts the U21 team currently outside the relegation zone. "Our trend is clearly upward," said a delighted U21 coach Sebastian Schmitt.
The successful collaboration between the Hessian Disabled and Rehabilitation Sports Association (HBRS) and SV Darmstadt 98 will continue long-term: Both partners have extended their existing agreement to promote inclusive sports indefinitely. This sends a clear signal for the sustainable development of inclusion and disability sports in Hesse.
A bitter end in Karlsruhe: After 90 entertaining minutes in which both teams sought salvation in attack, Darmstadt suffered a narrow defeat. The final score was 2-1 after a late goal from the home side, following Isac Lidberg's earlier equaliser. After the match, the players were particularly frustrated with the missed opportunities in the first half.
The away form continues to be poor: SV 98 suffered a 2-1 (0-0) defeat against Karlsruher SC. Lidberg scored the equaliser for the team from southern Hesse in the 70th minute.
Darmstadt 98 visit Karlsruher SC on matchday 32 (May 3rd, 1:30 PM). Florian Kohfeldt has made five changes to his starting lineup. Killian Corredor replaces the injured Fraser Hornby, Aleksandar Vukotic comes in for the suspended Patric Pfeiffer, and Fabian Holland starts in place of Matej Maglica, who is sidelined with an ankle injury. Merveille Papela and Niklas Schmidt also join the team, replacing Sergio Lopez and Yosuke Furukawa. In addition to Hornby, Pfeiffer, and Maglica, Darmstadt will also be without the injured Matthias Bader, Fabian Nürnberger, and Luca Marseiler.
Finally, the weekend is here, finally Sunday! On Sunday afternoon (May 3rd, 1:30pm), SV Darmstadt 98 will face Karlsruher SC away. What do the two coaches have to say about the match, who will be refereeing, and where can you watch it if you're not at the stadium? All the important information about the Lilies' 32nd matchday is compiled for you here in "Matchday Guide".
Continuity in sporting management: SV Darmstadt 98 has extended Paul Fernie's contract early and for the long term. As part of the contract extension, the current sporting director will move into the club's management board and will now serve as managing director of sport.
Our head coach spoke at the press conference before the away game against Karlsruher SC (May 3rd/1:30pm) about the mental freshness of his team, the course of action for the remaining games and his coaching colleague, whose commitment to KSC will end after six years this season.
Left hook, 'One hundred and eightyyyyyyy', and hand over the baton. Doesn't sound like football – and that's true. KSC is often associated with professional football, but with the sheer number of titles the club has won, it's worth looking beyond the pitch. Titles from Baden-Württemberg to Rome.
In a rescheduled Lotto Hessenliga match, SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team hosted SV Hummetroth at their youth academy on Wednesday evening (April 29th) but unfortunately came away empty-handed. Despite a spirited performance and playing with one man less, the score after 90 minutes was 3-1 in favour of Hummetroth.