“We need more control” | OneFootball

Albert Riera on team news, aims for the match in Wolfsburg and his view of the opposition.

Eintracht face VfL Wolfsburg away on Bundesliga Matchday 29, with kick-off on Saturday 11 April at 15:30 CEST. At his pre-match press conference, head coach Albert Riera spoke about...… team news: “Kaua Santos, Nnamdi Collins and Rasmus Kristensen are still absent. Ritsu Doan is ill and Jean-Mattéo Bahoya isn’t back at 100 percent yet.” 

… how things stand: “One of the messages I gave to my players this week was that every team is fighting for something at this stage of the season – ourselves included. Our aim is clear: to qualify for Europe next term. We’re under pressure as well, but Wolfsburg’s situation is different. They’re battling against relegation and need every point. But we’re determined to get all three points too. The objective of qualifying for Europe next season is a ‘nice’ kind of pressure. It’s different for Wolfsburg.”

… Eintracht’s approach: “After the last game I said that we weren’t composed enough. Overall, we’ve conceded a number of goals after the 70th minute – like we did against Köln. And we’ve only been finding the net ourselves after about an hour. We need to have more control, read the game and stay calm. We talked about that with the team and we’ve worked on it.”

… VfL Wolfsburg: “They’re playing at home and are fighting against relegation. We need to take advantage of the situation Wolfsburg are in, namely that they can’t go into games with any real sense of calm. They’ll put us under pressure in the first 20 to 30 minutes and try to get the crowd behind them. That’s exactly what we’ve got to avoid. We need to keep our composure and execute our game plan.”

… the team: “Every player is important, nobody is above anyone else. Every player has a job to do in attack and in defence, regardless of their position. As a rule, we’re all at the same level. No player or coach is more important than the team, the club or the history of the club. That’s why I prefer to talk about the collective and not about individuals.”

… the open training session on Thursday: “It was fantastic, especially because there were so many children there having a great time. You could see their eyes light up. All of that gave us an extra push. I can feel that the players are enjoying themselves in every training session, which is exactly the kind of positive attitude I need and want. That’s how players develop and improve.”