Frank Kramer: We need to be compact, but at the same time proactive

The team have to be firmly focussed on their objective with an important clash in Swabia ahead. “In Stuttgart, we want to show ourselves differently and do everything we can to take points,” says Kramer, who has new manpower to call upon for this fixture. On Tuesday, the Royal Blues strengthened their defence through signing Sepp van den Berg, and on Thursday, the final day of the transfer window, attacker Kenan Karaman joined the squad.

Van den Berg a candidate to start

“Sepp has come to us with a spring in his step. We recruited him to help the side right away and to be a player who can immediately come into the centre of defence,” reveals Kramer on Schalke’s new number 5. As for whether Karaman is ready to start, Kramer has not yet decided, and wants to have a discussion himself with the forward. But he is however convinced that the 28-year-old will boost the attack, commenting: “Kenan brings a lot of pace, he has good height and is a very good footballer.” Karaman, who was born in Stuttgart, can take on multiple roles in the forward line and is able to get a job done, Kramer added.

The head coach is now very satisfied with the squad at his disposal. “We’ve now got to do something with it,” he says. “That means that we have to look for quick ways to goal.” Kramer stressed the importance of finding a better final ball than in previous games, and capitalising on chances.

Competition for a place in the team has increased due to the transfers, and all players will have to face up to this. “We will have to see who comes through. The most important is that everyone works together, has the success of the team and the club in mind, and are always keeping each other on their toes,” says Kramer, who will though be without the services of Marcin Kaminski in Stuttgart. “He unfortunately picked up a little injury outside of training, which needs to be dealt with”, meaning an appearance is unlikely for him.

Tobias Mohr, who had been recently unavailable due to gastrointestinal infection, is fully healthy again, and is a candidate to start the game, as is Jordan Larsson, who has been working his way back up to fitness over the last few weeks.

Stuttgart have quality in their transitional game

Kramer describes the upcoming opponents as a team with steadiness in their play, while having a lot of pace in attack, making them dangerous on the break. If the team are to take points away at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, it is important to be compact, but also proactive at all times. „We have to find a good balance between keeping their defence busy and away from our goal.” To do this, it is important to be well-arranged and to work hard straight away upon losing the ball. “We do not want to let VfB get into their stride.”