Seoane ahead of #BMGM05: “It’s down to us to put the fans in good voice”

Head coach Gerardo Seoane spoke to the media in a press conference before the Foals’ Bundesliga game against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Friday evening (20:30 CEST). Here are his most important quotes.

Gerardo Seoane on...

...the personnel situation: Max Wöber, Nico Elvedi and Ko Itakura all picked up knocks against Bochum that have limited how much they’ve trained this week. Max is still a doubt for the game. Tony Jantschke also picked up a knock and has had muscular problems as a result. He hasn’t been in training today as a precaution. Christoph Kramer strained his MCL in training yesterday. We don’t think he’ll be out for long but he likely won’t recover in time for Friday.

...Tomáš Čvančara’s fitness: Tomáš missed the Leipzig game through injury and only made a brief appearance against Bochum. He’s made real ground in training this week, though, and is at 100% again for Friday’s game. However, we did notice that it took him a minute to adjust to the intensity of the game against Bochum. Those minutes were still important as far as integrating him back into the team is concerned.

...Manu Koné: He has the potential to take a game by the scruff of the neck. Manu’s had problems with his patellar tendon over the past few weeks. That’s why he didn’t start against Bochum. He’s trained well this week, but we have to manage his workload after an injury as serious as his. It’s still good to know that we can put in a good performance without Manu and that there’ll be competition for places as a result.

...the next opponents: On Friday, we’re expecting to play against a team who work hard off the ball and won’t give us many chances. Mainz are a tough team to play against and, in my opinion, have picked up fewer points than they’ve deserved. It goes without saying that bad results have an impact on morale. That’s why we’re expecting them to react on Friday and try and make up for their past few performances.

...the effect of the first win of the season: Like I just said, results always have an impact on morale. We came out of the game in a better mood compared to after we’ve lost. Nevertheless, we’re working to establish why exactly we won, so we can appreciate how good the performance was and continue to identify areas for improvement. 

...the past few games against Mainz: The games last season aren’t important now. Mainz’s performances this season are our main point of reference. It’s a new game, a new challenge and two new-look teams.

...the atmosphere in the stands: I’m assuming that on Friday evening – just as in the past three home games – the fans will be right behind us. However, it’s down to us to put the fans in good voice.