After three days rest, the Werder players returned to the pitch in preparation for the friendly against FC St. Pauli on Friday. Director of football and scouting Clemens Fritz gave his outlook on the week.
After three days rest, the Werder players returned to the pitch in preparation for the friendly against FC St. Pauli on Friday. Director of football and scouting Clemens Fritz gave his outlook on the week.
…the start to training: "“First of all, we’re pleased that everyone is back, the tests have returned negative results and that we can be back out on the pitch again. After the rest days, the focus of today’s session was a bit of work on the ball and getting back into rhythm. I don’t think there will be anything intense to avoid risking any injuries.”
… team news: "Unfortunately, we currently have a few players who are injured. Davie Selke is on an individual programme and will return to team training next week. We will observe Niclas Füllkrug’s situation at the beginning of next week. Maxi Eggestein, like before, still has a thigh problem from the game against Köln and will train individually this week. Milos Veljkovic also still has a few problems following his training injury. Ludwig Augustinsson will return to team training, while Felix Agu will train individually over the coming days. We’re hoping that he will be able to return to team training next week. This week, U23 players Eren Dinkci, Maik Nawrocki, Kyu-Hyun Park, Kebba Badije and Abdenego Nankishi will join the first team training. On Thursday, U19 player Jascha Brandt will also train with the first team.”
… the situation regarding international players: “Due to the situation, we’ve only released two players. There are rules that we follow and we couldn’t afford to have players having to quarantine and being unable to train after returning from international duty. Therefore, we decided not to release anyone who would be required to travel to a high-risk area. Of course, there is disappointment there, because everyone wants to play for their country, but there is also understanding. I think that we have communicated that well with the players and they understand our situation. Manuel Mbom has joined the U23 national team, who are playing in Braunschweig, and Jiri Pavlenka has travelled to Leipzig with the Czech national team, as the pair do not have to quarantine upon return.”
… another friendly against St. Pauli: “Every game brings something and due to the situation we’re in, it’s not easy to find opponents for a friendly. Therefore, we’re pleased to be able to play against St. Pauli. They have a physical team and will ask a lot of us. It is a very important friendly for us and we’re pleased to be able to organise it.”.“
… the objective of the game: “Florian will have a think about it together with his coaching team. But I think it’s important that players who haven’t played much recently are able to get some match practice. Every friendly is important and we’re hoping to take more forward steps."
… the fixture list after the international break: “There are no easy games for us. We need to play to our best and reach our full potential. We know that we’ve got some tough opponents coming up in the next few weeks, but we’re remaining optimistic. I think we can go into this run with some confidence. We need this mentality and energy for the upcoming matches. I’m confident that the team will continue playing with unity, as they have recently.”
