Hütter: “We need to take charge of the game”

Sporting director Max Eberl and head coach Adi Hütter answered questions from the media at today’s press conference ahead of the match against Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday (19:30 CEST). We have summarised the most important quotes from the conference.

Head coach Adi Hütter on...

... the squad: Of course it’s unfortunate that important players like Stefan Lainer or Marcus Thuram are out injured, but I’m not going to moan about it and instead take the positives from the situation; it gives the younger players a chance to make the step up. Ramy Bensebaini returned from international duty with a knock, and in terms of the game on Sunday, we’ll just have to see if he’s ready by then. Breel Embolo has been back in team training following his injury for a while now and could be an option for us on Sunday against Bielefeld, but Manu Koné won’t be back for this game. I hope that he is ready to come back next weekend.

... Breel Embolo’s possible comeback: Breel is a very powerful player and difficult to stop once he gets going. However, he has not played a competitive game for two months, so it would be unfair to expect too much from him straightaway. But, I am glad that he’s back and available to play on Sunday.

... the upcoming match: Arminia Bielefeld have had a decent start to the season, whereas we imagined that our start to this season would go somewhat differently. The team is self-critical but also very confident. We’re playing at home, where we gave Bayern a good game. We have to be patient and take charge of the game. We must be more clinical in the final third than we were in Bayern, take more risks and be braver. If we can do all that, then I am confident that we will win the game.

... the seven goals conceded so far this season: We made two individual errors leading to goals in Berlin, and we don’t usually make those errors. We need to be more solid in defence and more aggressive in our challenges and recognise the danger when we find ourselves outnumbered, and we also need to improve on preventing our opponents’ crosses and shots.

... Jonas Hofmann playing at right-back: I think Jonas can play there for the Germany National Team because he is good technically and he likes to get forward. But here at Gladbach, we are already well covered in this area with Stefan Lainer, Luca Netz and Joe Scally, so Jonas will not be starting at right-back for us in ordinary circumstances.

... Marcus Thuram’s road to recovery: Tikus will be out for a few weeks. He’s having therapy here, but he will also go home during for a while during this time. I cannot comment on whether or not he will be out till December, but we’ll do all we can to get him back on the pitch as soon as possible.

Sporting director Max Eberl on...

... the failed attempt to sign William Pacho: We would have liked to have signed William Pacho, but we were unfortunately unable to make the transfer of this talented youngster happen. It’s a shame for the player, for us and for his current employers, who were keen to get a transfer fee. There are no grounds for legal action though.

... the current attendance figures: The number of fans coming for an unusual kick-off time on a Sunday evening is fantastic. I'm pleasantly surprised that we've already sold 22,000 tickets, so I think we can dismiss the idea that people have generally lost interest in football."

... current plans to hold the World Cup every two years: "Having a EUROs and then a World Cup rotating every two years is exactly what you want. The idea of biennial World Cup is bonkers. Football already has so much presence in the world - increasing that won't lead to more interest."