“Have a difficult task on our hands”

VfB are looking to cap off an impressive first half of the season with a successful showing in Mönchengladbach on Sunday evening. After the first two weeks of training of the new year, including a 6-1 friendly win against second-tier side Greuther Fürth, head coach Sebastian Hoeneß believes his team are “on a good path”.

“After the day off on Wednesday, we got back into training well today and will continue working over the remaining two sessions so that we’re ready for Sunday,” said Hoeneß, looking ahead to the meeting with the 12^th-placed Foals. “We have a difficult task on our hands, for which we have great respect. Without being disrespectful, Gladbach have been a mixed bag this season, although not in their performances at home. They’re strong there, have had good games and are more confident and clear in their play.”

Gerardo Seoane’s men made a bad start to the season with defeats in their first three home games against Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, but they’ve been unbeaten in their five home league matches since (W3 D2) and also beat Heidenheim and Wolfsburg in the DFB Cup on home turf.

In general, trips to Borussia-Park are always tough, said Hoeneß. “They have good support in the stands and high individual quality in the squad.”

Despite that, the VfB boss is confident that his side can come away with a result. “Even with the current situation, we have players for different tactical approaches,” he explained. “We’ll try to control the game by being very active with the ball and adopting a good shape without the ball.”

With no fewer than four players – Hiroki Ito, Wooyeong Jeong, Silas and Serhou Guirassy – away at the continental championships in Asia and Africa over the coming weeks, Hoeneß sees it as a good opportunity for other players. “The boys have the chance to open the door to the starting XI and the squad for themselves with good, assured performances. That chance has never been as big as it is now.”

Nikolas Nartey will also be absent at Gladbach through injury, but Roberto Massimo and Fabian Bredlow are back in full training. Li Egloff (partial tear of knee ligament) has been able to join in with some parts of training recently.