"We're going in the right direction”
The lobby of the hotel at St. George’s Park is certainly an impressive entrance. There’s a plaque commemorating English footballers who have played a significant number of games for their country, two large screens which show training and match highlights from England’s various teams, and glass cabinets housing trophies, medals and historic shirts to complete the outstanding entrance. On Thursday, in a small room adjacent to this lobby, Fredi Bobic took some time out for a press conference where he answered questions from the media about our capital-city side. “It’s not all perfect yet, but we’re seeing a lot of things to suggest we’re moving forward and therefore in the right direction. It’s a process, which will take time and which we will need to trust,” explained our managing director for sport in reference to the team’s development. His most important remarks have been summarised by herthabsc.com, with the ex-striker commenting on...
…the second training camp and the pre-season friendlies:
Fredi Bobic: We’re completely satisfied with the facilities. Everything we knew before coming here has been of the highest quality. The team embraced that well and worked really well from the first day onwards, putting a real shift in. The training sessions have been clear and well-instructed, and I think that’s the main reason why the training camp has been so positive, even if the friendly results haven’t been optimal. We weren’t as resistant as we’d liked to have been against Halifax, and the boys could have shown a bit more gumption there – however, they were very tired, and I do somewhat get that. It took us about 15 minutes to get into the game against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, but by the end of the match we were seeing lots of good football being played. We basically gifted them two goals, and we shouldn’t be allowing such mistakes to happen. Nevertheless, it was a good match-up and we’ve got another chance to test ourselves on Saturday and to prepare ourselves well for the Braunschweig game against an ambitious side an in an awesome stadium.
...the status quo in our team:
Fredi Bobic: It’s not all perfect yet, but we’re seeing a lot of things to suggest we’re moving forward and therefore in the right direction. It’s a process, which will take time and which we will need to trust, but I’m confident that we’ll get to grips with that as soon as possible and that the boys will get comfortable with the system. Above all, we need to have a good balance. We’re not quite there yet and still need to put the work in, but we know that.
...the new signings and the current squad:
Fredi Bobic: All our new signings have been rich additions to our squad. For example, when I see just how much Jonjoe Kenny gets up and down the right flank, it’s a really good quality of his that suits our team perfectly. The same goes for Ivan Šunjić. He holds his position he needs to well. Nothing gets past him – he's almost a holding midfielder. In addition, he makes it tough for opponents, he’s good at interceptions, fouls when it’s necessary and is also good at building the attack. Filip Uremović is unfortunately out with a knock, but he’s also done well so far. We’re also pleased to finally have Chidera Ejuke join up with us. He’s missed out on some team meetings, but he has been present at training, so I’m not too worried about that. It’s even possible that he gets some minutes on Saturday. Of course, it’s down to the head coach to decide when it is the right time to bring him on. Chidera is a very lively player and adds to the competition for places on the wing. We have a wealth of talent out there now, and in a different way to how we did last season – we’ve also got Dodi Lukébakio und Myziane Maolida, who’ve also had very good pre-seasons. Deyovaisio Zeefuik is also showing good signs, and I’m singling him out here because of how much joy and positivity he brings and that he’s doing really well in a position which isn’t his preferred position. Hats off to him for his tremendous professionalism. We want to have players like him in the team who can bring this sort of mentality.
...the youth players in the training-camp squad:
Fredi Bobic: I like how the squad has taken them in. You can see that the programme has taken its toll on one or two of them from a physical perspective, but that’s completely normal. The important thing is that the youth players train with us as much as possible and then use the U23 matches to get game time. It’s not to degrade them, on the contrary, it’s something they crucially need. At the end of the day, it’s up to them as to whether they achieve the step up to the first team. We can only offer a good basis for that. Derry Scherhant has certainly excelled here – he's a newbie who only attracted attention to himself last year in the Regionalliga. If he keeps working and bulks out a bit, he’s got a great chance of making great progress as player. He really wants that and has a lot of talent, and the same goes for the rest of them.
...the transfer market and Sandro Schwarz:
Fredi Bobic: We’re currently making a lot of phone calls and having lots of conversations with ifs and maybes, it’s a really sticky situation. A lot can change between now and the end of the window, which is a shame because we also have a lot of games during that time, but that cannot be changed. Despite this, I think we’ve already done well in the market and have found lots of good, creative solutions. We’re in constant contact with Sandro Schwarz about this situation. One of his strengths is to try and get the best out of his players. He’s very clear, open, transparent and communicative, which is exactly what we need: discipline but also the ability to enthuse. Moreover, you can clearly tell that he fits in well with the coaching staff.