Farke ahead of #BMGFCA: “We owe it to Lars Stindl”

Head coach Daniel Farke answered the media’s questions at Thursday’s press conference ahead of the Foals’ last Bundesliga match at home against FC Augsburg (Saturday, 15:30 CEST). Here are his key statements.

Daniel Farke on…

…the squad: Manu Koné and Christoph Kramer will miss out with muscular problems. We will make a decision on Jonas Omlin after tomorrow’s final training. Julian Weigl and Joe Scally returned to team training today and we are optimistic that they will be fit for Saturday.

…the table ahead of the last game of the season: My focus is to end the season with the boys in the best possible way and to pick up points. It’s also about appreciating the competition in the Bundesliga, because there’s still a lot at stake for other clubs. At the same time, we need to focus on our ambitions, as we want to regain tenth place.

…FC Augsburg: Given their position in the table, Augsburg will do everything they can to pick up at least a point. They will fight doggedly for it, and that’s exactly what we have to be prepared for. They are in a situation where they aren’t necessarily full of confidence, but we are respectful and know that we have a tough task ahead of us to be successful in our last home game.

…the importance of the match: After the defeat in Dortmund, we dropped from tenth place, and the task for Saturday is now to regain this position. It would be good for our record and also for the fans’ mood. We will do everything to make sure we are successful in this last game. We owe it to the league and to Lars Stindl, because he deserves the best possible send-off.

…his first Bundesliga season as head coach at Borussia: The season has been characterised by different periods. We had a good start, and then there was a slight dip in terms of the performances and results. Up until the winter break, we were playing well again with the home win against Borussia Dortmund. Due to some injuries, the second half of the season was a bit tough and we didn’t manage to consistently pick up points away from home. Our goal was not to have an up-and-down season like last year, but to be solid and stay in the second third of the table between seventh and 12th place. We didn’t achieve 100 per cent of what we would have liked. I would have liked to finish one or two places higher, but it wasn’t a failure. Everyone is free to assess it differently.

…the club’s expectations: An assessment of the season always depends on the expectations you had going in to it. Those who had their sights set on Europe will be disappointed. Those who were worried about relegation will be satisfied. It depends on your perspective. There are high expectations here. In my opinion, however, it’ better for us to approach things with modesty, realism and humility, and not consider a mid-table finish as a terrible season. This is by no means understating it.

…saying goodbye to Lars Stindl, Marcus Thuram and Ramy Bensebaini: The boys who are leaving us will be given a worthy send-off by the club before the game on Saturday. Especially someone like Lars Stindl deserves it 100 per cent. He is a club legend. These will be moments of great sadness, but we will not allow it to take over in the moment, because we don’t want to take our focus off the game. We will sit down together after the match and I’m sure it will be very emotional.

…the significance of losing Lars Stindl: Personally, I will miss a top player who is versatile in attack and still has that end product. He is a leader in the dressing room, has a top personality and is a great guy that you can always rely on, especially in difficult situations. As a substitute recently, he has shown once again his value for the team. We will start with the best team on Saturday and Lars is of course an option for the starting eleven.