The training camp

We couldn’t start pre-season with our full squad due to some players being on international duty. Players arrived at different times, which is why we called up quite a lot of lads from the U23s in order to be able to play 11-a-side games in training. We played against Wolfsburg with a mixed squad, so with quite a few from the U23s.

Christian Günter was injured before the training camp, Chicco Höfler had a painful rib injury and both Roland Sallai and Ritsu Doan spent time on the sidelines. That’s why we decided to drop the intensity a bit on Wednesday – that shows how it’s been. I’ve got mixed feelings at the minute. The training group shouldn’t do much more now. I want players on the training pitch so we can have the best level of quality. That gives you self-confidence and belief – well it gives me it at least. I’d imagine that if you asked Vincenzo Grifo, for example, he’d be happy enough and that’s good.

Pre-season

We always try and ensure in pre-season that every player gets the best possible chance to impress, and that includes in the friendlies too. That’s why we’re playing two games of 90 minutes against Strasbourg on Saturday. Due to our current situation though, we may well select one side of established players and one full of the younger guys. That’s something we’re currently thinking about. However, we don’t want those challenging for places to think that our team is already decided for the start of the league season. We need to keep them all motivated.

Chicco should be able to play on Saturday. Roland and Ritsu will be back and that’s really positive. They’ve been here a while now and know what they’re doing. We know them well and that’s good.

New players

The lads are excited when a new player comes. It’s something new for them and they enjoy it. New people often bring a fresh style of playing with them, so we were all excited to see Junior Adamu in training. We were eager to start dreaming of what we could achieve with him. It unfortunately hasn’t been possible so far and we need to make sure he doesn’t put too much pressure on himself. He’s in less pain now and there is less fluid in his tendon. Our aim is to pick the right time for him. We need to make sure he’s ready when he returns to training and that he then stays fit. I’d rather wait two more days to be sure.

We have ideas of who else we could bring in. There are also some players who could imagine coming here. It’s ultimately down to what’s actually possible. The biggest challenge is not agreeing deals with the players, but rather getting the clubs to agree terms. Bringing in one or two fresh faces would definitely be good for us.

Expectations

We finished fifth last season and sixth the year before. I’ve heard some people say that’s normal now. Expectationshave grown. We’ve had lots of great times recently and the fans come to the stadium for a great time and to see lots of victories. However, anything that could go our way in the last two years has basically done. I don’t want to be warning people all the time and let the lads lose confidence. People just need to be able to accept a less successful period as the normality too. That will definitely come, it happens to everyone – even at FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. The question is how will we then deal with it? How can we get some stability back? We can’t start thinking that we have to win three games in a row when we’re no longer fifth. That would be really dangerous.