“We’re wide awake”

The international break is over and it’s time for Bundesliga action again. This Saturday afternoon (kick-.off 15:30 CET), VfL Bochum 1848 will be guests at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. In the run-up to the match in South Germany, head coach Thomas Reis as well as director of football, Sebastian Schindzielorz answered the journalists’ questions at the press conference.

Thomas Reis on…

… the personnel situation: Jürgen Locadia and Armel Bella Kotchap won’t be fit to play. Also Simon Zoller will have to wait a little longer.

… TSG 1899 Hoffenheim: We know that Hoffenheim have an incredibly strong team. Their game is highly variable, and they are strong on the flanks as well when switching into attack. Especially their left side is very very dangerous in terms of balls into the centre. It will be a hard nut to crack for us. We must – as always – give everything we have to gain points.

… the aim of keeping the league: I still think that our chances to keep the league are very high. We are wide awake and have the self-confidence that we’ll need to keep enough teams below us in the table.

… the international returnees: I’m glad that all players returned home from their international trip safely and healthy. They all look fresh. Christopher Antwi-Adjei will return later today. In the case of Armel Bella Kotchap, we have received very, very good feedback from the coach of the German U21 national team. That makes us very happy, of course.

… the competition in the team: We are happy that Maxim Leitsch is back on board. He’s an important factor and helps us immensely with his dynamism and his strong left foot. Danilo Soares und Cristian Gamboa are also back and both made a very good impression. It’s good to see that we have a little bit more competition on the pitch. That could be the key to success.

… the latest Covid cases in the team: Due to Covid infections a number of players recently had to drop out but now they are all back on track for the final games. Of course, we continue to take all precautions and hope that the absences will remain low in the coming weeks.

… the young Talentwerk players: You can easily see that we have a lot of good talent. Within the scope of our possibilities, we can keep up with bigger teams, like Borussia Dortmund last night. I’m very pleased about that. I’m in regular contact with U19 coach Heiko Butscher. We’ll see which players move even closer to our squad for the new season.

Sebastian Schindzielorz on…

… the consequences of the cup throwing: The case is still pending and therefor I still can’t say anything about possible consequences we’ll have to face after the Gladbach match. We are all making every effort to continue to fully clarify everything. We’ll be glad when we can focus on footballing terms again afterwards.

… the resigning Talentwerk director Alexander Richter: I would like to thank Alexander Richter once again. He was always very reliable in his work. Now that he has decided to take a different path, it makes sense to bring clarity to the processes as well. We have a functioning structure at Talentwerk, with many experienced employees. We have done a lot of the groundwork and will be looking carefully for a successor.

… loan returnee Moritz Römling: We are in close contact to Moritz and his advisor. We will set up a training plan for him that will put Moritz under reasonable tension and allow him to develop further. In the summer, we’ll see what happens next.