The Foals began their preparations for the second half of the season on Tuesday morning.
The Foals departed for the short winter break following the away game at Eintracht Frankfurt on 20th December (2-1 loss). They only had one and a half weeks to recharge their batteries with their families. The players returned to the training pitch at BORUSSIA-PARK on Tuesday morning. “The break wasn’t long, but I was still pleased to see all the boys again and have the ball at my feet again,” Patrick Herrmann said.
It was mainly about getting their rhythm back for the Foals as they took part in an approximately 60-minute session. However, the intensity will naturally increase up until the start of the second half of the season against VfB Stuttgart on Sunday 14th January (17:30 CET). “We all got a running schedule for the Christmas break and therefore we’re still full of juice. We’re not lacking fitness, but of course we need to work on some tactical elements on the pitch in order to be ready for the resumption,” Hermann said.
Jordan to be partially integrated, Honorat absent
Jordan was involved in parts of team training for the first time since suffering a thigh injury and will continue to be partially integrated like Stefan Lainer in the coming days. The ill Franck Honorat missed the first session of the New Year. Tomáš Čvančara twisted his ankle in one of his runs over the Christmas period and is therefore not in full training at the moment. Jonas Omlin (recovering from a shoulder operation) and Lukas Ullrich (recovering from a shoulder operation) are both working towards their comebacks individually.
Ko Itakura met up with the Japan national team in the past few days and they are currently preparing for the Asia Cup (12th January until 10th February). However, the centre-back will briefly return to Mönchengladbach and take part in team training on Wednesday. “Ko is set to feature in our friendly on Saturday. If that goes well, then he will travel to the Asia Cup following the game,” said Roland Virkus, Borussia’s managing director for sport.
Friendly against Go Ahead Eagles
The Foals will continue their preparations for the second half of the season in the afternoon (15:00 CET) with another open training session. Two sessions are also planned for Wednesday (10:00 CET and 15:00 CET) - both behind closed doors. Spectators are welcome at training on Thursday at 10:30 CET. The Foals are then set to prepare for their friendly against Go Ahead Eagles behind closed doors at 10:30 CET on Friday. The game against the Dutch top-flight side on Saturday will be played at the training ground at BORUSSIA-PARK.
