Catch-up game in Bremen: On Tuesday (8:30 p.m./live ticker in the TSG app and on tsg-hoffenheim.de) TSG Hoffenheim will be playing at SV Werder Bremen. After the game on January 10th was canceled due to weather, the game will now be rescheduled. Before the duel, head coach Christian Ilzer spoke about the opponent, the personnel situation and the objectives.
Christian Ilzer about…
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… the game: “The break between games is short and sweet. The big issue is freshness. We want to regenerate and prepare for Bremen. Today’s training session will be very meaningful for our line-up. We want to go into the away game with good energy.”
… Werder Bremen: “We know the statistics and know that they haven’t won for a long time. But there were a lot of close games. They were close against Frankfurt and they were also statistically better in Leverkusen. Bremen can hurt us and we will be prepared for that. It will be a new big challenge.”
… the personnel situation: “The final training session will give us a better picture. Tim Lemperle could return, but we’ll see. No worse things happened in Frankfurt, but there are a few minor problems.”
… the objective: “In the summer we were assessed very differently, but then things move very quickly in football – in both directions. For us, it’s about maintaining a good balance. We can only influence our daily work. We’re consistently continuing on our path. If the willingness is right, we’re on the right track. But we also saw on Saturday that it’s not enough if we give a few percentage points less.”
… the improved defense: “The many goals conceded last season were a topic in the summer. We wanted to sign players who think in both directions and love to defend. When it comes to defense, many people only talk about defenders, but it starts with the attackers. It is very important how they act against the ball. We had the topic of standard situations, but we also worked intensively on that. That doesn’t always work immediately, but in the long term it has developed well.”
… the mood of the team: “The boys have a good mentality and a good attitude. There are many who exemplify the idea of success. The boys themselves realized the bad initial phase on Saturday and were able to change things on their own. The team shows very mature performances.”
The opponent’s form:
SV Werder Bremen has not won the last eight Bundesliga games (three draws and five defeats). Due to the recent crisis in results, coach Horst Steffen’s team slipped to 15th place with 18 points.
The duels so far:
There have already been 32 games between the two clubs in the Bundesliga. Bremen won twelve duels, TSG ten. There were ten differences. Hoffenheim have not lost any of the last ten Bundesliga games in Bremen.
