Analysing the game and moving on

Finding the right words to say after a derby defeat is definitely no easy task for any coach. The frustration over the loss is high, while the team are also disappointed with the performance in Köpenick. “The lads were really sad and affected by the result after the game. I had to lift them up, since they did display a willingness to run as well as the desire to do well,” said Pál Dárdai. However, there was no escaping a “thorough analysis” the day after the match. “I wasn’t happy with our body language and I spoke to the players about that. Even if things aren’t going well, we still need to perform differently,” said the 45-year-old.

Training began this week with a weightlifting session, before the team moved into analysing the match. “We spoke openly and honestly,” said Dárdai. “Last week, we focused only on working on our attack, took a lot of shots, and yet there was nothing to be seen of that in the game,” he said. The team were lacking pace and energy, as well as clinicality in their finishing. “However, that’s exactly what we need in attack. In defence we have the option of passing the ball around if we’re tired, of moving closer together and winning back the ball – we don’t have that option up top,” said the head coach.  

Weights, analysis and working hard on the pitch

The first session on the Schenckendorffplatz lasted around 75 minutes this afternoon – nearly as long as the analysis of last weekend’s match. After warming up, our team focused on correcting those things that didn’t go so well on Saturday night. The coaches watched on as they practiced passing, contesting challenges and taking shots. After recovering from Covid-19, Stevan Jovetić was busy running laps while Vladimír Darida and Linus Gechter trained with fitness coach Hendrik Vieth. Krzysztof Piątek and Prince Boateng also trained individually, as did Rune Jarstein and Lukas Klünter.

The best case scenario will see the majority of our players return to team training during the week, in order for Pál Dárdai to have multiple options to chose from for Saturday’s match against FC Augsburg (27/11/21, 15:30 CET). The team will be looking to show a reaction to the painful derby defeat. As Dárdai said, “Of course this defeat hurts more than others, and the players and myself are still human, but we have to listen to the criticism when we go out to the shops or for a walk. On the other hand, when we win then all you hear is congratulations.” Hopefully, that will be the case after the upcoming weekend.