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“For us, it is about coming through these really hard few weeks,” explained Christian Streich after the DFB-Pokal exit. “We weren’t lively enough against Paderborn.” The game following this one against Gladbach, in the Europa League next Thursday, will be SC’s sixth game in two weeks. A tough workload – both for the body, but also for the mind. “The mind is most important,” emphasised Vincenzo Grifo.
“We now have to support the boys as much as possible. It is not easy mentally – you always have another game and after the Pokal exit the boys are obviously disappointed,” said Streich, based on what the players have said, and the fact that games are coming thick and fast. “We wanted the boys to calm down and to rest. We have tried to ensure that the disappointment hasn’t lingered for too long.” The head coach is confident that this has worked. “The boys were fully focussed on Gladbach today. They were calm and they also have a good relationship with each other. That obviously helps. We can now go into this next game with a newfound bravery.” There is another positive, with Yannick Keitel back in team training.
“We need stability again”
Against Mönchengladbach, whose start to the season has not been great, Streich is looking for an improvement in one particular area: “We created no shortage of chances against Paderborn, but we have to improve some things against Gladbach – in particular our performance in individual duels.” SC’s opponents come to the sold-out Europa-Park Stadion off the back of successive wins. Head coach Gerardo Seoane’s team have won just two league games this season, although the most recent was last time out against Heidenheim. Another win followed immediately afterwards, again against Heidenheim, this time in the cup.
“Gladbach were in a slump, had a lot of turmoil at the club and high expectations were put on the team, but now they’re stabilising again. They were very solid in the last two games,” said Streich, who also gave a brief game plan: “We also need that stability now, as well as bravery, mentality and good performances in individual duels, so that we can stand up to them.”
Photo: Achim Keller
