Rose: “Giving it everything we’ve got in the last three games”

Head coach Marco Rose and sporting director Max Eberl spoke to the media in the pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s Bundesliga away match against FC Bayern Munich (18:30 CEST). Rose and Eberl gave updates on squad news and discussed the upcoming opponents from Bavaria, as well as the state of play in the Bundesliga.

Head coach Marco Rose on…

…squad news: Lars Stindl has coped well with training this week and is in good shape. We have to weigh up a few different things with regard to Saturday’s game in Munich though. On the one hand, the tactical setup with which we approached the game against Bielefeld worked very well. Lars has also spent a few weeks out due to his torn muscle. On the other hand, however, we know he’s our captain and he’s played a big role in some very important goals so far this season. We’ll find a good solution for Saturday. Mamadou Doucouré (operation following Achilles tendon rupture) and Torben Müsel (rehabilitation training) won’t be available for the game.

…the game plan against FC Bayern Munich: We’ll only be satisfied with the match if the result is a good one. The performance is always what achieves that result though, so that has to be right in Munich. It will be a big challenge to play there, especially since they have the chance to be crowned champions at home on the day. Over the short break from the Bundesliga last weekend, we went over the game against them earlier this season that we won 3-2 here in Mönchengladbach. After analysis, we realised that we played too passively in the first 25 minutes and we lacked the conviction and intensity that you have to bring against Bayern. To hurt them, you need phases where you’re comfortable in possession and you have to be strong in transition. If we can stop them from controlling the game, that will be a key factor. Obviously, there will always be periods of the game where they are dominant. What we have to do is break up those phases and then focus on bringing our qualities into play.

…the state of play in the Bundesliga: We know that there’s still nine points available in the final three games of the season. We also know that we’ve dropped a few points this season. What that means is that with three games left to play, we’re sitting four points behind Bayer Leverkusen, who are currently in the Europa League qualifying spot. We're currently level on points with Union Berlin. SC Freiburg also have a game in hand tonight and could make up more ground on us. We have to give it everything we’ve got in the last three games to try to make it into the Europa League, or failing that to defend seventh place, which would mean qualification for the Europa Conference League.

…the Foals’ attacking quality: We have a lot of boys who are fit and pushing for an attacking place in the starting XI at the moment. Obviously, there are only so many positions we can fill there though. The priority is always to be successful as a team, so whoever starts up front has to have the support of everyone else, even though there will be some disappointment from those who missed out. It’s important that we communicate internally when it comes to these tough decisions. From my point of view, it’s great that the players are fit and available to play so that we have the most options open to us and can rely on a depth of attackers to react to any situation in a match.

…the role played by Breel Embolo: Breel played very well against Arminia Bielefeld and he’s in good form currently. He works really hard in training and has been performing well in our sessions, but that applies to a lot of the other players as well. We have a broad selection of attacking talent to choose from against Bayern. Now it’s a case of having the right players out there on the pitch in Munich.

Sporting director Max Eberl on…

…the Foals’ record against Bayern Munich: It’s true that we have a strong record against Bayern recently, but we’ve also been losing some games as well. All I can say is that we have a very good squad of players and that we’re set up well to perform strongly on Saturday. We’ve developed into a club that is pushing for European qualification on a regular basis, so on our day we can be a dangerous team for Bayern to face. If they aren’t at their best and we do everything right, we can get ourselves into a position to beat them.

…the fight for the Bundesliga title: Of course, we all hope that the title race will remain open for as long as possible in the future. This season RB Leipzig were pushing Bayern for the title until they were beaten by them. It’s important that there’s still some tension and there was that this year. Basically, the Bundesliga, and with it also Bayern, stands for solidity, extremely good budgeting, and good club management. As a result, all the teams in this league are still in a relatively good position despite the effects of the ongoing pandemic, and have not faced the same financial problems that we’ve seen clubs from some other countries suffering from. In Germany, Bayern are currently the best club and it’s up to the rest of the teams in the Bundesliga to try to achieve success. Of course it would be nice to have another champion, but whoever is on top at the end of Matchday 34 deserves to lift the trophy.

…this summer’s transfer window: We’re currently in unknown territory for all sporting directors, as none of us have experienced anything like this before. We don’t know what will happen this summer. The transfer market is extremely complicated and has changed a lot over the last few decades. On top of that, there’s the pandemic and the new TV deal to take into account. There’s a lot of moving pieces, so it looks likely that not many clubs will be able to take an active part in the market this summer. A lot of clubs will have to wait and see how things are looking from a financial point of view first. Fortunately, we are well set in terms of the contracts we have with our current players and I remain convinced that we have a very good squad. We’ll see what happens and what offers there will be. As a club, we’re financially stable but it remains to be seen how much we will have for transfers in the summer.

…the possible return of fans for the match against VfB Stuttgart: Unfortunately it looks as though that ship has sailed, as Mönchengladbach would have to be below the seven-day incidence rate of 100 for a longer period of time for this to happen. It doesn’t look as though this will be the case. We’d have to put in a lot of preparation and make sure everything was set up correctly to host fans for the game. As of right now, it looks unlikely that this will be able to happen.