“It will be crucial to seize our moments”

Karlsruher SC is coming out of a phase of great stability in recent years. You now want to take the next step. They show that a lot is possible thanks to coordination and stability – Darmstadt 98 also showed the same in the years before promotion to the Bundesliga. There’s a lot going on at KSC. Above all, they do the simple things right. Karlsruhe has good defensive spacing. They know when they want to attack or when they want to fall. In addition, the KSC has extremely high quality in the squad. With Wanitzek they have a player in their ranks who is one of the top 5, if not top 3 players in the league.

We will have our chances against Karlsruhe. But it won’t be a game in which one team dominates the other for 90 minutes. I’m expecting a fast-paced duel between both teams, which I’m really looking forward to. It will be crucial that we use our moments to get the game on our side. We have to continue on the path to performance that I see for us. But we would like to lower our goals conceded average. We also have to continue on our offensive path: we didn’t have many chances to score against Braunschweig. We had a lot of chances against Schalke, but we didn’t have any compelling opportunities in the first half. Now against Magdeburg we had some great chances, but unfortunately we only scored one goal.

In contrast to the KSC, we are in a phase of complete change. We are currently still looking for our stability, although this has become more apparent in the last three games. The very first step is to stabilise ourselves. I think that after our discovery phase – after relegation, a transfer phase with a lot of player changes, long-term injuries and the unforeseen change of coach – we will say something about our goals for the season in the next few weeks. The table situation is not nice. Nevertheless, we are currently only approaching the 8th matchday. Of course points would help us. Ultimately, we don’t have enough of it overall.

We wanted to press Magdeburg high and run them high. We did this in 15 to 20 minutes. But we didn’t want to be frustrated if the pressing failed. And that’s exactly where we’re having a hard time right now. We have to be able to endure these phases in the game. The team has the desire and the conviction to take the path of active defense. But it will still take a moment to maintain that over 60, 70, 80 minutes. Overall, the team has a belief in the way we play football. You notice a positive energy. The approach to games is characterised by the conviction that you can win them. But when we get into the phases mentioned, our stability is not yet high enough to endure and get through them. You can see a development, but it is not yet complete.