“Pressure on both of us”

The international break is over and it’s time for the next Bundesliga fixture. This Friday night at 20:30 CET, VfL Bochum 1848 will be guests at the Olympiastadion in Berlin for the away match against Hertha BSC. In the run-up to the match, head coach Thomas Reis answered the journalists’ questions at the press conference.

Thomas Reis on…

… the personnel situation: Simon Zoller, Anthony Losilla, Erhan Mašović, Danny Blum and Paul Grave won’t be able to participate. Toto and Mašović are luckily doing quite well with their Covid infections.

… the absence of Anthony Losilla: Toto is the heart of our team and of course we miss him. But I have various ideas in mind. Certainly, Robert Tesche and Patrick Osterhage are options. Even Eduard Löwen and Elvis Rexhbecaj can also play the position, even though they are no classic defensive midfielders.

… the situation of Robert Tesche: Robert had an unlucky start to the season with his early red card in the Wolfsburg match and the following suspension. He still hasn’t fully found his rhythm yet. We know exactly, what we have in him. He is a very important player because of his experience.

… the first leg against Hertha BSC: The first leg was the bitterest defeat of the season for us. We weren’t the weaker team by any means, but we paid a lot of dues. In the weeks that followed – apart from the Bayern match – we became more and more stable. We have learned to deal with several setbacks in a row.

… Hertha BSC: After they appointed Tayfun Korkut as a new manager, Hertha’s style of play has changed in contrast to the way his predecessor, Pal Dardai, wanted to see his team play. They are now very compact in midfield and have a very good basic formation. Their switching game is also very good, and they are always dangerous via counterattacks. But this risk is also an opportunity for us to get behind the defence.

… the situation before the game: Before the season, I think hardly anyone would have thought that we would be ahead of them in the table at this point. Both teams have pressure. We want to earn points to take the next step towards our goal. They also have pressure as they don’t want to lose touch. It will be a hard nut to crack, but we want to stick to our playing philosophy and find the right solutions.

… the conclusion of the winter transfer period: I’m absolutely fine with what we achieved. We wanted to reduce the squad, but we were always in open exchange with the players. I would also take the chance to thank the departing players for their commitment and wish them the greatest possible success in their future careers.