„We need to be wide awake“

The Wolves are currently on a four-match unbeaten run in the Bundesliga but they have drawn their last three – including last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The aim against an improving VfL Bochum side on Saturday 29 October (15:30 CEST) is to end that sequence of stalemates. At Friday’s pre-match press conference, VfL coach Niko Kovac answered questions on…

… the importance of the Bochum game: “You are under pressure every week in the Bundesliga and you have to deal with that as a player and as a coach. We know this is a very important game for us. We’re playing at home against an opponent below us in the standings but who are making clear progress under their new coach. We still want to win, though. That’s our objective, but that’s never easy in the Bundesliga. No matter where you play and who you play, it’s always difficult. We need to be wide awake and focused going into the game, and we certainly won’t underestimate Bochum.”

… VfL’s position in the table: “We can see progress in terms of the development of our play, but there’s also our points tally – we only have 11 at the moment. We should have more, but unfortunately that’s not the case. That means we’re facing the same challenge week after week – trying to keep the opponents below us in the table at a distance.”

… the Wolves’ defensive record: “We’ve conceded 19 goals in 11 games – that’s almost two per game, which is definitely too many. We’re not a team that scores three or four goals in every game, which means we need to focus on our defending too. You need to be able to understand what to do in any given situation. As a coaching team, we show the players and explain it to them so that they’re aware of what to do.”