Mr Skibbe, you and the team watched last night’s Europa League game between VfB Stuttgart and Benfica. What are your conclusions from that game?
We have seen Stuttgart meeting a very good opponent from Lisbon. But we want to avoid comparing ourselves with Benfica and rather focus on the game on Sunday. We are happy to see that the number of injured players has been reduced by a margin recently. Sebastian Jung is likely to return to the starting line-up.
Will Sebastian Rode also be in the starting 11?
Surely Sebastian Rode is an option, as are others in terms of starting the game. We have to bear in mind that Sebastian has suffered a couple of serious knee injuries. In the week his knee reacted to the strain, hence we cannot say whether he will play from the start.
How did you watch the game last night? Did you analyse some of the tactical situations straight away with the team?
We watched the match like any other match and will discuss the analysis of it at a later stage with the team. Of course we were able to pick up a few strong points of Stuttgart, such as the speed of Harnik or the set pieces of Hajnal. Also Okazaki showed his class, repeatedly moving from the wing into the center.
Did you organize last night’s come together in order to strengthen the team spirit?
Last night - and also Monday’s team event - were good for the team spirit. I did not feel that there were bad vibes within the team beforehand. Team nights like these are important for any squad.
Did you change the schedule during the week?
Yes, we added new training formats this week and practiced pressing situations.
But the tactical system will not change dramatically?
No, I cannot see a change to the system. It is a system successfully played by Eintracht for years now, and also internationally established: with a wide midfield and a lone striker.
What do you expect from the game on Sunday?
It will be an aggressive match in which two struggling teams each want to overcome their bad run. We will go into the game with a good spirit and will try to constantly put Stuttgart under pressure. One thing I would like to point out: we very much hope that the fans will support us for the full 90 minutes. Especially in a period where it does not work out for us we need all the support from the crowd we can get.
What do you hope for?
I promise that the team will do everything to be successful. They will fight for every inch of the pitch and hopefully with the fan’s support will collect points also. We slipped down far enough in the Bundesliga standings, we need to show our quality again.
