A clear mark of success has been communicated by all of those responsible within the club. As shown across the previous season, head coach Kohfeldt is convinced that continuous motivation of the players is important, right up until the final day. “We first developed our burning desire to qualify for Europe last season. It was noticeable that the whole team wanted to reach Europe in 2018/19. It wouldn’t be logical to now change our objective. I am completely convinced by our target of reaching a European competition,” said Kohfeldt.
Frank Baumann also spoke before the Bundesliga opener against Düsseldorf about the importance of setting a clear objective: “After last season, when we narrowly fell short of European competition, both in the Bundesliga and in the DFB Pokal, our target for the new season is once again to finish in the top 7. I see it as a huge advantage that this isn’t an objective prescribed by the board, it is something that everyone within the club is desperate to achieve. Therefore the overwhelming feeling felt by the players is a desire to achieve it, rather than pressure.” At the same time, everyone in and around the club is well aware of how many factors there are that need to come together in order to bring about their return to European football through a sixth or seventh place finish. “This season will be just as difficult as last season; there are lots of clubs that want to achieve this goal. We set a very high standard for ourselves last season, nevertheless we need to ensure that we try to improve our style of football and tighten up our shape in order to give us the best possible chance,” said the sporting director.
At the end of the season, there will once again be certain decisive factors. As well as a strong start to the season, which they can take their first step towards at the weekend, it is important that they don’t drop points against the teams in an around them in the table, something they struggled with last season.