Rose: "Send a clear signal from the start"

Head coach Marco Rose and sporting director Max Eberl spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s DFB-Pokal opener against FC Oberneuland.

Head coach Marco Rose on…

…squad availability: The situation has improved on the offensive side of things. Marcus Thuram will be back for Oberneuland, but probably won’t start. Alassane Plea trained individually today and will hopefully be back in contention in time for the first matchday in Dortmund. Breel Embolo has a MRI check-up on Monday, then we will see what the next steps are. But I think we will need to be patient with him. Otherwise, Mamadou Doucoure will play for the U23s on Saturday to give him some match practice. Things are looking good for Denis Zakaria. We decided to treat him externally and it’s going well so far. Otherwise, Valentino Lazaro (calf), László Bénes (ankle), Andreas Poulsen (shoulder) and Julio Villalba (muscular) are all out.

…the DFB-Pokal: We have a chance to reach the next round in the cup. If we get through, we’re one step closer to our goal. We want to do better than last season and get as far as possible. That’s our goal from the first whistle on Saturday. So many crazy things have happened in the cup, so I want us to send a clear signal from the start.

…his DFB-Pokal suspension: We will be as relaxed as possible on that front. I have complete faith in my coaching staff, they will be fine without me. I’ll find a spot somewhere in the stadium and watch calmly. I can be with the team until half an hour before the game and from half an hour after full time. During the game, Alex Zickler, Rene Maric and Frank Geideck will take care of the team together.

…the upcoming opponent: We’ve had a good look at our opponents, and we know that they’ve just been promoted to the Regionalliga. The question is whether Oberneuland will play their normal game against us or if they will make any changes. We’re expecting a team who have nothing to lose and will want to cause an upset. They will give everything to make life difficult for us and hurt us. We have to guard against that. They have a few players in their ranks that we need to be careful with on set pieces. They also have pace on the wings. But it’s up to us how the game pans out.

…the upcoming season: We have a really good team, a quality backroom staff and the mood is right around the team, so I’m excited for what awaits. We have a successful season behind us and we celebrated appropriately. We’ve had our holiday, but now we’re starting again from scratch.  We will probably have to work even harder for every result. We have set the bar very high. We still have room for improvement and we always say that we want to take the next step. We want to stay ambitious, even if it’s never a bad idea to show a little humility. I believe humility keeps you aware and helps you have the right amount of energy, seek new challenges and achieve goals. Saturday we finally go again with the first challenge.

Sporting director Max Eberl on…

…the special circumstances in the first round of the cup: Everyone has to get used to this new normal. The pandemic has shown that there is no normal, that things can change very quickly. Obviously the cup thrives on the fact that smaller clubs get the home game. Everyone is hoping to return to normality and in football we hope that in summer 2021, we can have start the cup under normal conditions, with the amateur teams playing at home with a full crowd. That just hasn’t been possible this year. We spoke very open and honestly with FC Oberneuland. The club said that they wouldn’t benefit at all from playing at home, that it would just cost money. We were happy to play the game here at BORUSSIA-PARK. I think it’s wonderful how the pro clubs have reacted. We will play a ‘return leg’ against FC Oberneuland when we’re allowed to have fans again, so that they can generate some income. That’s the sort of thing that makes football so special, the solidarity. Now we have an away game at BORUSSIA-PARK and we’ll try to go through to the next round.

…allowing fans into the stadium: It’s a big topic. We’re all looking to return to normality somehow. But it’s not so easy. In our federal system, each state can make its own decisions. All 36 Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 teams would be able to establish excellent hygiene concepts if they were all given the green light to allow more fans into stadiums. If our regional government says we can start allowing more than 300 spectators into the stadium, we will implement that. Together with the health and regulatory office, we will make that work. First, it’s important that at the trials in Leipzig and Berlin, where more fans are allowed in, the people show that they can stick to the rules. Not just for the Bundesliga, but for all sports and cultural events. Football is a pioneer in many ways