Rose: "A clear focus and all our might"

Head coach Marco Rose and sporting director Max Eberl gave an update on the squad and spoke about the upcoming game away at Schalke (Saturday, 18:30 CET), in addition to the current situation at the club during a virtual pre-match press conference.

Head coach Marco Rose on…

...the personnel: Christopher Kramer is fit again and is an option for the game against Schalke. Julio Villalba and Torben Müsel are both still unavailable and are working on their comebacks. 

...the upcoming opponent: We’ve taken a close look at Schalke 04 and have analysed them. However, our focus is primarily on ourselves. Schalke as a club belong in the Bundesliga. I do hope that they will be able to turn things around. If you look at how they played in the first half against Wolfsburg, then both teams were evenly-matched. Schalke have a lot of quality and a strong will. Even under a new coach, they are still a well-structured side. In their last two games under their new coach, Schalke have shown yet another new face. They focus on stability at the back, but are also a threat up front. We want to approach the game with a clear focus and all our might, in order to win the game. 

...the current situation at the club: Over the past weeks, we’ve recorded few positive results. We are full of energy ahead of the game against Schalke and have full confidence in ourselves. We want to finally pick up a positive result. It’s important that we focus on the task at hand and our performance. We need to bring the positives from our past games with us into this match, along with the knowledge that we have to improve certain things in order to finally get back on track. We need to be more organized in defence and in every other situation. Currently, we’re allowing chances and conceding too easily. We need to bring in power and strive to score goals ourselves. We did a good job of that against Augsburg, and now need to build on that against Schalke. Every game offers us a chance to turn things around. 

...the mood within the team: Over the past weeks, we felt the pressure during every game. Unfortunately, we haven’t been successful lately. But, seeing how the boys work and perform gives me great faith in the team and how they act. I think the boys are prepared to give a passionate performance against Schalke and to bring a lot of energy and joy into the game. In order to win football matches at this level, you need emotions, as well as some anger. You can’t allow that to dominate, however, as you also need a certain level of clarity and belief in yourself. You need a perfect mix. I think the boys have been playing for long enough and they’ve taken the right approach into the last games. 

...his role as a coach: As usual, we are preparing tactically for our upcoming opponents. Over the last year and a half, we’ve been able to build a certain foundation of how we want to play and what we need in order to do that. During a difficult situation, as a coach it’s important to set the tone and to have a clear plan. However, my plan changes depending on the situation. If you’re enjoying success, then you have to show the team what’s needed in order to keep getting results. If things aren’t going as well, then my job is to show up every day and to show them that every training session and every game is a chance to turn things around. In order to do that, you need lots of positive energy and hard work. We need to keep pushing and focus on ourselves. The key thing is to ignore all the outside chatter. That’s my responsibility and I think that I’m meeting it. 

...the possibility he might rotate for the upcoming games: When we're playing once every week, then we have the chance to train more often and to see how the boys do in training. Depending on how we play and what results we pick up, it gives the players the chance to carve out a starting spot and for me to pick a similar side each time. Rotating then comes into question when we have a heavy workload, which won’t be the case in the upcoming weeks. 

Sporting director Max Eberl on…

...the current view of the table: We believe that we can beat Schalke. After that, we’ll see what the table looks like. We’re aware that the gap to the European places has increased over the past weeks. It’s likely that finishing in seventh this season would be enough to qualify for the Conference League. From a financial point of view, our plan for the new season never factors in the monetary impact of playing in Europe. If we were to qualify for Europe, then of course that additional income would be very nice for us. 

...qualifying for Europe: Qualifying for Europe is always a worthy goal, regardless of whether it’s the new Conference League or a different competition. For Borussia, competing internationally is always a mark of success. We’ve managed to do so six times over the past years. Those were special moments. Every European competition is fantastic, in my opinion. If you manage to qualify for Europe, every game is special, no matter who or where you play. We want to reach these games - the Champions League is fantastic, the Europa League is a lot of fun and we would feel the same way about the Conference League, if we were to qualify for it. 

...the international call-ups: We’ve been in close contact with the health authorities about this topic over the past days. We will not allow all our internationals to join up with their teams. Austrians Stefan Lainer and Valentino Lazaro will not travel to the World Cup qualifier in Scotland, and Ramy Bensebaini will not travel to Zambia with Algeria. Our players aren’t allowed to travel to these destinations. If there should be any changes to the travel restrictions in the coming days, then we also maintain the right to call our players back ahead of time. 

...new signing Kouadio Koné: I’m keeping a close eye on Manu’s development and I watch all of his games. He and Toulouse are currently fighting for promotion to Ligue 1. We’re wishing Manu all the best, that he stays fit and continues to develop over the remainder of the season. Of course, we also wish Toulouse all the best in their promotion push. 

...U23 coach Heiko Vogel: This topic has been intensely covered by the media in recent days. Some have reported that Heiko has been given the punishment of having to coach a womens or girls team. I want to make it clear that the punishment he has received extends to a two-game ban, a monetary fine from the association and an additional fine handed down by the club, and not that he has to coach a womens or girls team. Heiko himself offered to lead training sessions for one of Borussia’s womens or girls teams in order to make it clear that he respects women’s football. Heiko made a mistake. What he said on the sidelines wasn’t okay and we disapprove of what he said. He has since apologized for this.