Farke ahead of #FCUBMG: “It’s time to grit our teeth and fight for every point”

Daniel Farke answered questions from journalists in Friday’s presser ahead of Sunday’s trip to FC Union. Here are the most important parts:

Daniel Farke on…

...the state of the squad ahead of Union: Stefan Lainer will miss out due to his Covid-19 infection, the same goes for the suspended Manu Koné. Our long-term injured players Florian Neuhaus, Ko Itakura und Hannes Wolf are also unavailable. Yann Sommer is still out with his ankle injury. Jonas has a tiny chance but we are assuming that he won’t be in the squad when we travel to Berlin. Torben Müsel strained an abdominal muscle with the U23s and he is in doubt. Things, however, are looking good for Nico Elvedi. He completed much of Friday’s team training.

…the Foals’ current fortunes: We had a super run of games but we’re currently in a difficult phase with all our injuries. It’s time to grit our teeth and fight for every point. If there are no problems and everyone is fit then we are certainly in the position to go on a bit of a run. If that isn’t the case then we’re not entirely in that position. We have to be honest about that. But we are in no doubt that that is how we want to develop as Borussia Mönchengladbach in the long term. We want to move forward step-by-step.

…another game against the current league leaders: We have played the league leaders twice already this year and we have picked up a good result on both occasions. We led in Munich until the 83rd minute and we dominated for 60 minutes in Freiburg. We are travelling to Berlin full of the necessary respect but we also know that we are a team that we can get a result, whoever we are playing.

…Yann Sommer, Marcus Thuram and Ramy Bensebaini, whose contracts are set to run out in the summer of 2023: We are really happy that we have these players in our squad. The way they have consistently performed for us so far speaks volumes about their characters and their professionalism. We are really happy that we can go into the final games before the World Cup with these players and that we aren’t compelled to sell them in the winter. If anything, we want to keep the players with us through the winter and into the summer. Selling isn’t the plan right now. If a spectacular offer comes in during the winter then we will be able to consider it behind the scenes and come up with a suitable price. The club can be proud of the fact that we are in control of the situation. Our sporting director Roland Virkus and the entire management team deserve a lot of credit for that.

…the development of the younger players in the squad: I don’t want to burden our younger players with too much responsibility. That would also be inappropriate. We have a responsibility to develop our younger players and to get them acquainted with the first team. I am happy that we have them with us. They are developing well and continuing to work hard. But with all due respect, the Bundesliga is a step up from the Regionalliga West or the Under 19 Bundesliga.

…the development of Nathan Ngoumou and Luca Netz: Nathan already has a lot of experience playing in the second division in France and he did really well there. Being picked for the France U21s shows you have quality. That’s why he’s not far away from starting in the Bundesliga. Luca Netz has also played a few Bundesliga matches and he is in with the Germany U21s. He is also very close

…Union Berlin’s qualities: Strong mentality, strength of character and determination are the hallmarks of Union. They operate with a lot of quality and they have improved on their final league position each year since their promotion. Urs Fischer and Oliver Ruhnert deserve a lot of credit for the way they have consistently developed the club. That is the sign of excellent work and they are an example for other clubs to follow.