Hütter: “We need to play to our strengths”

On Wednesday, head coach Adi Hütter and sporting director Max Eberl spoke ahead of Borussia’s away fixture against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Friday evening at 20:30 CET. The most important points are summarised here.

Head coach Adi Hütter on...

...team news: Compared to the last Bundesliga match against Bochum, there are very few changes to player availability. The one exception is that Denis Zakaria did not train today. He has a minor stomach bug so we’ll have to see how he’s doing tomorrow and whether he can make the trip to Mainz. It’s going to be a race against time. It would make no sense to take him with us if he’s not right physically. He needs to be strong for his own game and ours.

...the next opponent: The development of Mainz 05 under Bo Svensson has been really good. The team plays a direct, simple brand of football; they work hard and are very strong one-on-one. In attack, they create chances and Jonathan Burkardt, among others, is finishing really well at the moment. It’s not for no reason that Mainz are where they are. They have improved a lot and it’s never easy to play there. Nevertheless, we want to pick up where we left off when we go there.

...Mainz’s strength when it comes to individual battles: We will have another proper look at Mainz tomorrow. We also have to accept the match for what it is. When you come up against a team like that, you can’t avoid the physical battle. We have to be willing to run a lot, be disciplined tactically and bring our own physicality into the contest. We also have to try to impose our own game, play to our strengths and also be ready for how Mainz want to play.

...the last home game against Bochum: The problems we had at the end of the game against Bochum weren’t down to the system. It was more that we weren’t as concentrated as we were against Bayern, where we knew that we couldn’t give the opposition an inch, as they are too good for that. There were a number of times against Bochum where we found ourselves in five- or six-on-two situations, but in the end managed to make it four against three. If the opposition had made the most of those moments we might have conceded more. We examined that carefully in our analysis of the game as it is something that cannot happen. In the second half, we were too far apart in some areas of the pitch and at the end we got ourselves into a bit of a mess, which wasn’t really necessary. Before that, we should have made it 3-0 which would have changed the game completely, but matches like that do happen, especially after amazing performances like the one against Bayern. Over the 90 minutes, however, I do think we deserved to win.

...positive statistics: I think it’s important to look at statistics like ball possession, shots on goal and passing accuracy. The team showed again against Bochum that they have a lot of quality passing the ball and that they were positioned well in the new formation. They have a lot of quality on the ball, but we also have to learn to put in the hard yards, to fight and to keep hold of a lead. We have done that well over the last few weeks, but at the end of the day it’s not about playing pretty football and having strong stats. That’s all well and good, but that alone won’t win us football matches.

...the difference between home and away fixtures: We haven’t picked up enough points on our travels in recent times. Playing away is so different to having our fans behind us at BORUSSIA-PARK, and that’s the same for other teams as well. Nevertheless, we can expect a fast-paced game in Mainz on Friday. We need to be good in transition, but also play tidily and with clear heads then we will create opportunities that we will need to make the most of, of course. But if we don’t put everything into challenges and are not disciplined, then it’s really hard away from home. We have to have the class and quality to perform differently to how we did in Augsburg and Berlin.

...Joe Scally: Joe didn’t play as he wanted to against Bochum, but we can’t forget that he has made such big steps for a young player. No one knew of him six months ago and now he has come in for Stevie Lainer and performed exceptionally. He can play on either side and his performances have been noticed everywhere, including in his homeland, and he’ll be hoping to play for his country. It’s a pleasure for us all and that will definitely motivate him and also give him confidence. If it should come about, I hope that he copes well with the strain.

...Ramy Bensebaini: He has only just come back from injury and is not quite yet back up to speed. What’s remarkable is that he played all three games last week and put in a shift out-wide against Bayern. We have to be careful with him, of course. He is joining up with his national team again in the international break, but if he feels too tired or any weakness in his muscles then I would take ihm out at once.

...Jonas Hofmann: Jonas is so important to us. On the one hand, he is creative and plays with the freedom to find space really well. He knows exactly when to drop deep but also when to press to try and win the ball back. He is critical for our style of play. He has chipped in with four goals and he will have extra motivation against his former club.

Sporting director Max Eberl on...

... Seeing out narrow leads: It’s difficult to talk about further development of the team in that context. The fact is that recently, we have won a lot of tight games with a great attitude. Our supporters play a big part in that. Last season, when gave away a few games at the end, that was something that we missed a lot. Thankfully that has changed and we have their support behind us in the stands and it something very noticeable. Borussia is a club based on emotion.