Seoane prior to #BSBBMG: “Our anticipation is huge”

At the press conference prior to the Foals’ DFB-Pokal first round game at TuS Bersenbrück on Friday evening (18:00 CEST), head coach Gerardo Seoane answered questions from the journalists in attendance. Here are his most important quotes:

...the anticipation for the first competitive game: We're going into the Pokal game with huge anticipation. It's fun to train and develop things but at the end of the day it’s always about the competitive games. The tension and focus on competitive games is completely different than in friendlies. You could sense that in the team over the last days.

...the game plan for the Pokal match: The next game is always the most important to me. Our focus is completely on Friday. We’re working hard to find the right tactics for the next match and give the team a clear plan. We must succeed in showing high intensity on and off the ball and forcing the opponent to make mistakes.

...Jonas Omlin’s condition: Jonas had shoulder problems after the last friendly. He trained individually yesterday. We assume that he'll be able to train fully this afternoon. If it goes well, he’ll also play on Friday. If not, one of the other keepers will replace him.

...a possible appearance from Tomáš Čvančara:Tomáš had some minor ailments after the intensive drills in the last week. We have to be careful with his workload. We assume though that Tomáš will be available on Friday.If not, with Hack, Plea and Ranos we have the chance to utilise the second striker.

...new signing Maximilian Wöber: Max brings with him lots of experience and quality, and a good level of fitness too. He might need a bit more time to settle in, but with his personality and left foot he's an important player who's a key part of our plans.

...the support from the fans: It's fantastic that we're taking more than 10,000 Borussia fans to Osnabrück. That will give the team energy. We feel the huge anticipation for the new season from our supporters every day. Obviously it creates certain expectations. We want to live up to these in terms of commitment, desire and dedication.

...the development of the team in pre-season: The team has already implemented a lot of the things that we expect well. We’re defending solidly, but in terms of compactness the final piece is still missing. We have very good changeover situations, but these don’t always turn into clear goalscoring chances. All in all, our game has become a touch more vertical. What we definitely need to improve is our goal threat against compact opponents. We have to control the space better to get into the box more and through this create more chances.