Struber: “I can be grateful that I have the choice”
On Friday, 1. FC Köln welcome Hamburger SV to the RheinEnergieSTADION to kick-off the 2024-25 2. Bundesliga season. Here are the most important quotes from head coach, Gerhard Struber and Director of Football, Thomas Kessler in the pre-match press conference.
Gerhard Struber on…
…player fitness: “Luca Waldschmidt is available for the weekend. Rasmus Carstensen trained with the team today as normal and is also ready. The situation surrounding Max Finkgräfe and Florian Kainz is unfortunately clear-cut. Both will be out for a longer period of time.”
…the centre-back position beside Timo Hübers: “Julian Pauli and Dominique Heintz are both very interesting players. When it comes to Heintzi, he has a lot of experience and can read the game well. For Julian, he’s young and had a really good pre-season. As a coach, I can be grateful that I have the choice between the pair.”
…pre-season: “The team have improved in a lot of areas when it comes to the content within our training. For example, our intensity and synchronised pressing. Overall, I am satisfied because we’ve grown together off the pitch as a squad and coaching staff.”
…the excitement ahead of Friday: “I am absolutely buzzing for the game. We’re itching to get going. You can tell that the team are more and more excited for Friday as each day passes.”
…the game against HSV: “I think that we’ll see a game with an incredibly high intensity. We need to be clear in what we do and stay lively. When you play against a team that wants to get promoted, then it’s a good test to see where you stand straight away. Now we want to know where we stand and go all in. We will give everything. We’ve built up a certain self-confidence in pre-season and now it’s about doing everything to bring that into the league.”
Thomas Kessler on…
…the increasing excitement ahead of the season opener: “When you go into the 2. Bundesliga as a traditional club, then it’s a big challenge. The people are really happy that football is getting underway again. The lads extremely focused. We have the chance to play a good season. But we can’t just talk about it. We will wait for Friday and then see where we are.”
…the level in 2. Bundesliga: “It is really difficult to get promoted from the 2. Bundesliga. HSV is a very good example, but there are many other clubs that will have it difficult to stay in the top part of the league. You need to keep calm and can never be satisfied. We need to focus ourselves and work on ourselves. It is a long and difficult path.”
