“The absolute willingness to push the limits”

I don’t know exactly how many men will be on the bus on Friday. But everyone who will be there can be sure that there is a coach sitting at the front right of the bus who is happy that he is traveling to Braunschweig with exactly those boys. With one goal: to win in Braunschweig.

Braunschweig is in a good phase and has come out of the winter break very well. They picked up a total of five points against tough opponents in the new year. Eintracht has done a lot on the winter transfer market. And all the new players were in the starting line-up against Karlsruhe. Especially when they take the lead, they are very uncomfortable with their strong central defense in the back three. They then become very dangerous via switching actions because they have a lot of speed. In terms of quality, they have a strong and experienced squad. Even though they usually become dangerous through set pieces and transition moments, they still have a very active approach. Overall, Braunschweig is an unpleasant opponent.

We are in a difficult and negative phase in terms of results. But we have a few pounds in hand to overcome this phase with all its adversities. This is primarily our offensive and defensive structure on the pitch. This does not always mean that we make the right decisions at the right moment. Nevertheless, we are well organised and structured in every game. You hear that from my coaching colleagues in every opposing press conference. We have a clear and shared idea of ​​what we want. Another factor is our very good team spirit and our great will to get this done together.

Overall, I perceive us to be very united; when it comes to sporting leadership, we are level-headed and very vigilant. We know about our situation and its framework conditions. We have 25 points, so we won’t go into a final against Eintracht Braunschweig. We look to the future in a solution-oriented manner. There is no question that we still need points and results. Despite all the failures, we have the individual quality that allows us to bring our strengths onto the pitch, which make us difficult to defend. As a team, we have developed a will that makes us absolutely willing to push ourselves to the limit. These are good conditions for winning games. Whether this happens will be decided in small moments. And we have to do a lot to ensure that these little moments come.

Everyone has the approach to find solutions for themselves. The task is to synchronise this so that everyone wants to find the same solutions. I think we did a good job during the week. In stressful situations – especially when the result is negative – everyone with absolutely good will wants to try to force it. Basically, there is 0.0 tendency for anyone to slip away. I have never experienced such a harmonious – perhaps even sometimes too harmonious – cabin that holds together so much. But in the small moments we miss the very last feeling of what the other person is doing. This is certainly due to the different compositions of the team in the last few weeks. Of course, the automatisms in the combinations in different positions change if you haven’t played together that often. But we had a week of training in which we worked a lot on teamwork.

When we sat here before the home game against Braunschweig almost six months ago, our goals for the surrounding area were almost too optimistic. We said that we wanted to stabilise and have a stable season. But the mood was more along the lines of: “Wow, make sure you somehow stay in the league.” The expectations of us then developed dramatically, which we ourselves were happy to stir up based on our results. No team liked playing against us in November and December. We performed as a team in such a way that it was almost impossible to get a hold of us offensively. We also showed a high level of aggression against the ball. As a result, the expectations for our game and our results have become very high. But that shouldn’t cloud our view of where we come from and what our overall goal is. The current phase has many challenges in store for us. But it is also a phase that is very instructive. If we want to deliver experiences like we did in the first half of the season, we have to get close to 100 percent in all areas. We will overcome this phase because we act and fight against it. Maybe it’s also a phase that will be very important for the overall development – for the team, the coaching team and the environment. I’m really happy to be sitting here and watching all of this happen.