Borussia Dortmund interim head coach Mike Tullberg: “One thing is clear: the players have not forgotten how to play football.”

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·24 gennaio 2025

Borussia Dortmund interim head coach Mike Tullberg: “One thing is clear: the players have not forgotten how to play football.”

Immagine dell'articolo:Borussia Dortmund interim head coach Mike Tullberg: “One thing is clear: the players have not forgotten how to play football.”

Speaking at Borussia Dortmund’s first press conference after sacking head coach Nuri Şahin, interim Mike Tullberg has spoke about the first team.

Tullberg, who is Dortmund’s under-19 head coach has been in charge since Şahin was sacked after Dortmund’s 2-1 loss against Bologna in the Champions League in midweek.

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On the team, Tullberg said:

“One thing is clear: the players have not forgotten how to play football. My clear approach is to energise the team and encourage the boys. They should play football freely.”

Adding:

“Everyone has a duty and must ask themselves what they can do for the team. We have a bold approach against the ball and won’t wait and see. The lads should trust their instincts. Almost all of them are international players, they can do that.”

The Danish coach also spoke on what he had worked on during the handful of training sessions that he has been a part of and what he wants from the team:

“I’m less interested in how many passes we play to the left or right. If the boys feel they want to play vertically, they should do that. They should now also play what they feel in their gut.”

Adding:

“We don’t need excuses. We need players who are ready to march. And when they can’t run anymore, we’ll substitute them. We’re allowed to make five substitutions and will therefore be able to march for 90 minutes.”

On what has been worked on:

“I have addressed things. The approach is to be brave and be passionate. They all started playing football on a playground. You can never lose the fun. I expect that to be recognisable tomorrow.”

It is expected that Tullberg will be in charge just for Dortmund’s game against Werder Bremen on Saturday afternoon, on how to beat their weekend opponent who have been having a good Bundesliga season, Tullberg said:

“It’s about us and we don’t have to make ourselves smaller than we are. We have a clear approach to win the game. We started analyzing Bremen on Tuesday night. The nights are short – we have a clear plan.”

Whether Tullberg will be in the dugout for Dortmund’s final Champions League game is yet to be seen. Both Niko Kovac and Urs Fischer are the newest names to be linked with the Dortmund job with them joining on an interim basis to try and somewhat salvage what is left from this season and try to qualify for European competition.

GGFN | Jack Meenan