Schultz: "Wanting to learn and improve is in our DNA"
Thursday, 14. October 2021, 15:32 Uhr
The Boys in Brown resume their league campaign with a tough ask at FC Heidenheim on Saturday (13.30 CET). In the run-up to the game, head coach Timo Schultz took time out as usual to answer questions from the media.
Timo Schultz on...
...the personnel situation: "Christopher Avevor and Lukas Daschner are still in rehab. As for our younger players, we've three pieces of bad news this week. Serkan Dursun tore a cruciate ligament with the Under-23s, and Jannes Wieckhoff and Hugo Teixiera both suffered knee injuries with us. They're all ruled out for the time being. There's good news concerning Sebastian Ohlsson, Etienne Amenyido and Igor Matanović, however, who are all out of pain and have resumed full training. Eric Smith and Marvin Knoll have some catching up to do and are both doing running work. Finn Ole Becker and Maximilian Dittgen are back in full training and are candidates both for the squad and a place in the team, given that they weren't out for long. Our international players have all returned unscathed and will train today, so they are options, too."
...the starting line-up: "A coach always has several lineups in mind, not just one. Becker and Dittgen are good options, that's for sure, but we've also had players on the bench recently who've already started in other games. We'll also assess the condition of our international players. They played at different times and some had long trips back."
...the league table over the last two weeks: "It makes pleasant reading, of course, but we shouldn't let the table or the positive reports in the media deceive us. We've used the time to come back down to earth a little, and we had a decent runout in Freiburg that showed we still have room for improvement in many areas. We're aware of our strength and are happy to take the snapshot, which is what matchday nine is, after all, and draw strength from it."
...the question of when he is completely satisfied: "I don't want to come across as a notorious moaner all the time, but we do have phases and sometimes whole games or halves where we simply don't conduct ourselves well, either individually or as a team. We've also had lots of really good games, though, that have been fun to watch, as I've said. Nevertheless, every player and every coach will always try to see where they can improve. Wanting to learn and improve is in our DNA. The players are eager and can see themselves where we still have problems and where we need to come up with solutions. That's why working with them is so much fun."
...the opposition: "They're an established side who it's difficult to create chances and score goals against. They've also been a threat from set-pieces for many years. They build from a solid defence and are very fast and good in transition, so we have to make sure as a team that we don't get caught on the break."
...the approach to the game: "We want to play bold attacking football, make them react to what we do by knocking the ball around, and create the space in which we can threaten. That's a bit more difficult at Heidenheim perhaps than at other places. It's never pleasant there but we have the confidence and perhaps to some extent the self‑belief that we can do it. We've demonstrated in the last few games that we can look good no matter who we play."
Photos: Witters