Stability through flexibility

The training week got underway for the Herthaner on Tuesday ahead of their home game with Cologne on Saturday. Alexander Nouri demanded the maximum from his players during the session.

The good weather seemed to come and go on Schenkendorffplatz on Tuesday as rain wind and sun were all present during training. The lads seemed to be much more stable than the weather during the session after their away win against SC Paderborn over the weekend which saw Alexander Nouri end a 21 game streak without a win as a head coach.

But that will now be in the back of the players’ minds as they look ahead to this weekend and an exciting prospect of a home game with 1. FC Cologne. “Cologne will have a bit of momentum given their recent results, we have to leave out the game against Bayern. They had way too much quality going forward and their runs were insanely difficult to track,” said Nouri. “We have to really turn it up if we want to win this game.”

Open Competition

Cologne will have to focus their attention on Matheus Cunha too, after his fantastic performance against Paderborn in which he looked extremely dangerous going forward. “Technically he’s an amazing footballer in that he’s not only pacey and makes good runs, but he can also finish. He will really help us with his defending from the front, he’s always willing to press the opposition,” said Nouri, hailing his new number 26 who’s brought a lot of positivity into the dressing room. “If he can prove his ability out on the pitch, we’re really excited to see him play for us. Krzysztof Piątek, another one of the Januray signings and Cunha’s new strike partner, has also been impressing of late. “Both of them are settling in so well, Kryzsztof in the middle and Matheus just behind him,” said Nouri as he looks for more flexibility and fluidity in his attacking options. “The competition in the team is so open, everyone can earn their place in the starting XI through good training performances,” commented the 40-year-old on the squad.

The aim for Saturday will of course to grab three important points and Nouri is hoping to have a full squad to accomplish that. Per Skjelbred, who was forced off at half time in the game against Paderborn, should be back for the clash with Cologne. The same goes for teammate Niklas Stark, who was also forced off with injuriy problems towards the end of the game. “Per is straight back on the training pitch, he’s fine. We kept it light with Niklas today, but that was just a precaution, he should be back training normally on Wednesday,” said Nouri. Same goes for Dodi Lukebakio who trained individually indoors on Tuesday. Whilst Salomon kalou also trained individually, Alexander Esswein will spend the entire week with the U23 side preparing for their Regionalliga game with Berliner AK on Sunday.