Seoane: “We’re focused on the task ahead of us”

Head coach Gerardo Seoane answered journalists’ questions at the press conference ahead of the Foals’ Bundesliga game against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday (15:30 CEST). Here are his most important quotes.

Head coach Gerardo Seoane on…

…the squad situation: Alassane Plea’s foot problems have healed well. He did somewhat reduced training at the start of the week, but was fully involved on the last two days. Max Wöber (muscle strain), Grant-Leon Ranos (foot injury), Simon Walde (high ankle sprain) and Shio Fukuda (ankle injury) will all miss out. Chris Kramer is still building up his fitness in training and will not be available this weekend.

…the sporting situation: It’s been a challenging season so far and it will continue to be so in the last two games. In the current situation, the way we’d usually want to play football doesn’t matter. Now it’s important to tackle the situation head-on and work together as a team. We want to pick up the points we need and get over the line with the help of the whole unit.

…the upcoming game: We’re concentrating entirely on ourselves and not looking at what’s happening in other matches. The only thing that’s important for us is what we can control: our own game. We’re focused on the task ahead of us and what we need to do to put in the best-possible performance. We want to seize the initiative and show the best version of ourselves on the pitch.

…the opponents: Frankfurt play with high intensity and have a lot of pace up front. We’ve heard that Eintracht aren’t entirely satisfied with their season so far. They’re still on track to qualify for the Europa League again though. We’re facing a team with a lot of quality. We’ll need to be defensively strong, but, just like we did at the start of the game in Bremen, we want to show the courage to attack with purpose.

…who will play in goal: We’ve made a decision about who will start in goal on Saturday. As usual though, we’re not going to reveal the lineup before the game.

…the wing-backs: We’re considering players with different profiles. Some are better at the defensive side, and others at the attacking side. Franck Honorat is an important player for us. You can tell that he’s been missing a bit of match practice recently though. Joe Scally did well defensively up against Mitchell Weiser in Bremen. Luca Netz and Stefan Lainer have put in a real shift in training this week. Now it’s up to us to make the right decisions about who’ll play on Saturday.

…Tony Jantschke and Patrick Herrmann’s final home game: Two unbelievable careers are coming to an end. They’ve both shown incredible loyalty to the club and been iconic figures on the pitch for a long time. Recently, they’ve helped us to get through the upheaval in the summer. We owe them a proper goodbye. They’ll both be in the squad and could play if required. The sporting outcome of the game is of course the most important thing. The result will determine if they’ll both be able to finish their careers on the pitch.

…Robin Hack’s development: Robin is a good example of how a player can develop during a season. He didn’t get the playing time he wanted to begin with, but he kept on working to improve and waited patiently for his chance. Since he’s been playing regularly, he’s been having more shots. He’s been taking on resposnsibility and enters these situations with calmness. He brings runs in behind and the courage to go one-vs-one. Robin is a really important part of the team at the moment and I hope that he’ll create more dangerous situations on Saturday.