Domenico Tedesco: “Just what we need”

It was “important to make a positive start to the season” with the 2-0 victory against FC Schweinfurt 05 in the DFB-Pokal, according to the coach. No conclusions should be drawn from the game though, as now “completely different challenges await the team”, such as the upcoming clash with Wolfsburg, who despite finishing 16th last year have a lot more quality than that position suggests. “If you have a look at their players individually, they’re not bad in the slightest. As a result, we’re absolutely convinced that Wolfsburg will do a lot better than they did last season,” said Tedesco.

Wolfsburg will be well-prepared

After the summer break, preparing for the first match of the campaign is a lot more difficult than during the season. “You’ve got to have a few more plans up your sleeve,” explains Tedesco, who knows what his team are up against to an extent: “Wolfsburg got some very good results pre-season, beating Napoli and Ajax. It’s now clear they’ve done a lot of preparation.”

The same goes for die Knappen, who are preparing to play in three different competitions this coming year. “I’m labelling it as something positive, rather than a burden – at last, we can have a crack at all three,” emphasises the coach, with an eye on the coming weeks which his team has prepared so much for. “We feel great. Our preseason was very intense and we used it well for both fitness as well as technical and tactical purposes.” Tedesco is also optimistic about the make-up of the squad: “The team’s framework is still intact. We felt that the new arrivals settled well very early on.”

Even so, the squad has caused some difficulties for Tedesco and his coaching staff. Up front there are “six very good strikers” available, for example. “That doesn’t make my selection very easy,” says the coach, “but we did want it to be like that, because the strikers who play will definitely give 100%. They’ll know a potential replacement is sitting on the bench. That’s just what we need.” Tedesco does not want to guess where the club is going to finish this year. “We want to prepare for every game so we can win,” says the thirty-two-year-old.

Stambouli set to miss out several weeks

Benji Stambouli will play no role in any games for the foreseeable future due to his syndemosis injury. Tedesco is not entirely sure how long he will sit out: “Some tests still need to be done before we can make a serious prognosis.” Omar Mascarell and Yevhen Konoplyanka have already recovered from torn muscle injuries, but, like Stambouli, will not be available to face Wolfsburg. “The game will come a few days too early for them and we don’t want to take a risk,” said the coach.

Hamza Mendyl could make his debut, however. The new arrival has been in first-team training since the beginning of the week. “After being a bit shy at first, Hamza is doing well in his duels. He has made a great impression and therefore he is definitely an option.”