“Idea and belief in being able to take advantage of our opportunity”

I have to praise the people in charge very much for the framework conditions that they have created during this English Week. Travel time isn’t really an issue. Nevertheless, the gap between the games is of course very short. Werder also played on Saturday, but five hours earlier. That makes a small difference. We recovered immediately after the game on Saturday; the boys didn’t go home like they usually do. They had regeneration measures here in the stadium. Yesterday, Sunday, each player trained and regenerated individually. This afternoon we will have a short final training session as a team, but it will be significantly less intense than the final training sessions usually are – simply to keep the risk of injury as low as possible. We will then sweat briefly in Bremen on Tuesday morning and arrive in good physical condition in the evening. The team already showed in the last English week that they can do that.

Werder Bremen has strengthened itself as a collective over the past few years. You’ve been working with Ole Werner for three years now, which shows. Werder have clear processes, are very courageous against the ball and are man-oriented. I expect them to press us very hard. This season they have also become more variable in their basic formations and switch between a back three and a back four. In all parts of the team they have players who can decide a game on their own. Weiser, Ducksch, Schmid, Friedl, Lynnen or Stage: These are all difference players. In terms of squad quality, they belong to the top half of the table. And they are currently playing a very solid season in the Bundesliga.

It will be a very big challenge. And it requires extremely good content performance. For a second division team, we have a very developed and good feel for positional and offensive play. We are still able to defend more and more stably. But we certainly have to put in an extremely strong mental performance as well. There will probably be phases in the game where we have to suffer a bit. It won’t be the case that we will consistently be the more dominant team, even if we don’t want to give up on this approach completely. We can also expect the power and energy of the stadium, which we have to channel positively for ourselves. If we can do all of this, we hold out the possibility of finding that one moment that can take us to the quarter-finals as underdogs. We have the idea and the belief that we can use this small opportunity to move forward.

Werder will probably win nine out of ten games in Bremen. But nine out of ten doesn’t mean ten out of ten. There are few cooler places to play an awesome football game under floodlights on a Tuesday evening at 8:45pm. We have nothing else planned. And that should be the focus. It will be a completely different game than against Münster. We’re definitely not the favourites tomorrow. The Münster game was manageable in terms of the level of spectacle, but I still saw a lot of positive aspects. We develop solutions for a wide variety of enemy approaches. That’s why we’re now looking forward to a completely different task.

There are areas in our team where we have the potential to develop to meet Werder on an equal footing. In Bremen you will certainly not say that the game is a sure-fire success. Our job is to be at 100 percent tomorrow. I feel a great connection with my team and am enthusiastic about our collaboration. I am firmly convinced that there are some players in our team who have the development potential to be able to play permanently in the first league in Germany.

I’m open and honest: Of course it’s a very special game for me. Werder is the club where I spent a large part of my time as a coach and player. Bremen and Werder are my emotional home. I have wonderful memories of the stadium, both as a spectator and in an active role. I was at the club for almost 20 years and am therefore looking forward to meeting many people with whom I have worked every day for years. My feeling before the game is mixed. On the one hand, it’s a feeling of coming home. I hope that every Darmstadt fan will forgive me. On the other hand, I’m going there with the goal of getting to the cup quarter-finals. I didn’t choreograph the evening. I’ll let it come to me. There can be one or two emotional moments. But I believe these issues will arise after the final whistle. Before that, my full focus is on my team and preparing for the game.

I really like it in Darmstadt and in this environment. A club with a lot of humanity, but also a focus on success. I really value the connection between the city and the fans. I also appreciate working with the team. I am very happy here. I’m exactly where I want to be. We want to be successful together.