‚Go into the game with confidence‘

There are understandable reasons for both departures. Both need playing time for their development. In Leon’s case, it’s a little more obvious. With Paul, I want to emphasise that we found a way forward together. He was an important part of our team. We considered long and hard whether this was the right move. Paul has the potential to be a regular starter for us, and we simply had bad timing: first the cruciate ligament tear, then he was ill during winter training. Furthermore, the guys in the double pivot, Hiro, Kai, and Mey, did an outstanding job. Our focus was clearly on his development. He’s now doing „the longest training camp in the world“ so that he can become a crucial player for us again in the summer.

Regarding Niklas Schmidt, I have to say that signing him was a fantastic achievement by Paul Fernie. It’s anything but a given to bring in a player from FC Toulouse who was already a Bundesliga professional with Werder Bremen. This player can play as a creative attacking number 10 and also as a creative double pivot. We’ve become a bit smaller in terms of squad depth, but we’re flexible. Niklas isn’t a replacement for Killian. He’s someone who expands our options. Killian isn’t an option for tomorrow yet, but we’re on the right track. I’m looking forward to having both Killian and Niklas in the squad soon.

Raoul Petratta is an experienced and established player, a technically gifted left-back. Due to his time in MLS, Raoul hasn’t had much team training in recent weeks and consequently hasn’t had much match practice. We’ll have to see if he’s ready for the squad yet. But we’re completely convinced of his fundamental quality. Overall, it was a very productive week for us, and we’re very happy with the group we’ll be going into the second half of the season with.

I have to give a huge shout-out to my coaching colleague. We left there in August when their squad was nowhere near what it is now. Miro had to make squad changes well into the season without any preparation, unlike us. Despite that, he managed to build a team with a clear style of play that is also successful. I know from my own experience how difficult that is. Nürnberg is a very strong team that constantly tries to find its rhythm and has moments of creativity. They keep integrating young players, like Scobel last matchday. They have speed with Zoma, and with Gruber and Lochoshvili, they have two very strong centre-backs in the tackle.

I have great respect for Nürnberg and the way they play football. But it’s also clear that we’re playing at home. We’re unbeaten at the Bölle all season. In fact, we’re unbeaten in eight games. Even though the Bochum game wasn’t top-notch for the full 90 minutes, you have to say that the first half was very good, apart from those two lapses. We’re now looking forward to the game against Nürnberg and the fantastic atmosphere. It will be a very attractive match for the fans. We’re going into the game with the confidence that we can say: Yes, Nürnberg is a good opponent. But we definitely have something to offer as well.

We’ve already discussed how to optimise the interaction between the team and the fans. The team council consulted with them before the recent discussion about the atmosphere, and Schuh subsequently brought these topics into the discussion. It’s great that the fan scene is thinking about how this can be improved. We all talk about the special atmosphere that can and does exist at the Bölle. But after a stadium renovation, it always takes time to readjust. That’s why I think it’s fantastic that there’s an exchange of ideas.