“The boys radiate hunger”

With Paul Will, Matthias Bader and Christoph Zimmermann we can’t yet seriously talk about comeback times. All three work hard. But you are still far from ready to be able to think about training on the pitch again. Fabian Holland trained with the team in a semi-integrative manner for the first time on Tuesday. That means he was a neutral player. He’s on schedule. And we hope that we can gradually increase the workload. Hopefully he can take part in team training a lot more in the new year. Klaus Gjasula was out for almost five weeks due to various things such as illness and personal reasons. We have to make sure that we get him back under the strain well and that he gets into his rhythm.

I see the team as focused and still very willing to learn – with a lot of energy and a good mood. When the work is done, there’s some fun. That’s okay too. But as soon as it starts working, the team is very concentrated and focused. This not only includes work on the training field, but also topics such as activation, regeneration, video training or individual training. The boys remain very hungry, the boys radiate hunger. This should continue like this.

We are the favourites – especially in the home game. But this is also explained by the history of the two clubs. Preußen has made outstanding developments under Sascha Hildmann. They made a stable move from the regional league to the second division. Münster also has a squad that has great strengths and special types of players in some areas. Nevertheless, we, Darmstadt 98, are a seasoned professional club that has been playing stably between the 1st and 2nd leagues for a decade. As a result, the distribution of roles is such that we go into the game as favourites, especially in the home game. That doesn’t mean anything in football. But I still really like being the favourite. The point is that you have a lot in your own hands.

The most important thing is that we are highly concentrated on Saturday. Our main focus has to be that we are extremely clear and we play football extremely clearly. The team and I have great respect for Münster. They have played against top teams in the last few weeks, narrowly losing against Köln, drawing 1-1 in Karlsruhe and beating Düsseldorf. We want to dominate the game on Saturday and win. For this we will need a lot of clarity.

Münster is a team that wants to set a footballing tone and plays a lot through the center and uses its sixes. In this position you have players like Jorrit Hendrix, who has played at a very high level in the Champions League. Preußen also varies between standing deep and throwing everything in and phases with high pressing. Therefore, we need clarity in every single action of every player. This also applies to every duel and every safety. If we let up on these key points and are not clear, we will not find any space forward – Münster defends far too well for that – and then they will find actions where they can become extremely dangerous to score. We absolutely have to prevent that. Münster is a big task that we have to be totally ready for.

It’s a floodlight show atthe Bölle. That’s something you should be up for in and of itself. I notice this in the city too. I’ve now arrived a bit and am no longer just at the training ground, but also do other things in Darmstadt (smiles). Everyone in town is looking forward to this evening and to watching this game in the stadium or in the pub in the city. It’s also a great feeling for us when the stadium goes along. The bond between the team and fans is totally there. And on Saturday evening, at 8.30pm, it can shine again particularly under the floodlights. But it is also a special game for Münster. Preußen will also do everything to win the game. Hence the request to our fans, if there are periods of 15 or 20 minutes that are not so spectacular: These are precisely the moments in which we have to pull it together.

We should keep at it when it comes to scoring goals, which has often worked recently. The development of the defense is also trending very positively. However, we still concede too many goals. But the Hannover game was a big step forward. Our processes are becoming clearer in all positions and as a result the susceptibility to errors is reduced. However, we are not at the end of our development.