Hütter: “Put everything on the line once again”

Head coach Adi Hütter and sporting director Roland Virkus answered the media’s questions in the press conference ahead of Borussia’s trip to SC Freiburg on Saturday (15:30 CEST). We have all the latest from the pair here.

Adi Hütter on...

... the personnel situation: Matthias Ginter will be absent this weekend. He hasn’t trained with the squad all week, so I don’t think he’ll be ready. Marcus Thuram and László Bénes are also not options for the game.

... the derby defeat last time out: The first thing to say is that the criticism following the game has been absolutely justified. We had high ambitions and knew that we could make the season a more positive one emotionally speaking if we did well in the derby. The fact that heads drop in the team after conceding early goals has been the case, as is the fact that the team struggles against a combative style of play and highly-charged emotions on the day.

... the current atmosphere around the club: After a period where the mood was coming back in the right direction, the derby loss has really put a dampener on things once again. That’s understandable, because the game has such enormous significance. As long as we show what we can do in these last four games of the season once again, put everything on the line and earn as many points as possible, we might be able to get a little bit of the season back.

... the final few games of the season: I’ve been able to collect a lot of impressions in my year here. In the last four games of the season, I want to see who will be playing for this club in the future as well as the present; the players who give their all until the final whistle and want to carry on their career with Borussia. Our fans want to see a passionate team who fights to the end and gives their all. The club brought me in, I think, to play the kind of football which has given me success for 10 years and made them interested in me. I hope we can get the players we need to play our game. The positive thing is that despite the difficulties of the season, we’ve been able to integrate many young players like Jordan Beyer.

... tactical decisions: I think that we can have both good and poor games when we play with both a back three and a back four. At the end of the day, it’s always about the same thing: if I, as a player, have to track back, I’m going to run back, and if I have to go forward, I’ll do that too. Getting stuck into tackles has nothing to do with a back three or back four. It’s just all about putting the tactics on the pitch. In my opinion, that doesn’t have anything to do with the formation or the system, just with the game itself and how we want to go about the game.

... upcoming opponents Freiburg: We took a battering from them earlier in the season, so now we need to show a reaction; we need to stand up and fight on. Every player has to have the ambition to get back up from a bad hit. I’m expecting a very tactically disciplined Freiburg side who run hard and have just added to their self-confidence by reaching the DFB-Pokal final. If we hold our own against them in terms of the fight, and show willingness to run, then I’m sure we’ll show our footballing quality on the pitch too.

Roland Virkus on...

... the Foals’ record against Freiburg: We’ve struggled against opponents who are tough to play against – the ones who are aggressive, ready to run and well-disciplined. SC Freiburg are one of those teams, as are FC Augsburg. It isn’t enough just to play good football against these kinds of opponents; you have to hold your own against them in all areas. The lads also have to be resilient in games like this; we’re expecting that. They have already shown that they can be just that this season, like in the match away to VfL Bochum for example. The team held their own there and worked hard to get the result out of it.

... the final stage of the season: We’re not yet mathematically safe. Our first step is to get the points we need to achieve our basic goal. That starts in Freiburg, but beyond that, it’s all about ending the season on a good note.