A single goal was enough to move up to 15th place in the table. In the future, however, VfL Bochum’s offensive needs to be much more effective, says coach Thomas Reis.
The VfL decided the duel between the two promoted teams at the weekend in Fürth (1:0) with a standard. Previously, Thomas Reis’ team had been extremely harmless with corner kicks and free kicks, but now it seems that the intensive standard training before the basement duel also had an effect.
Reis: “With us it often degenerates into pretty play “
The promoted team has scored five goals in eight matches so far, which is definitely something that can be improved. And so Reis demands more courage from his players when it comes to scoring, preferably from a greater distance. “We often end up playing a pretty game, always crossing the ball and passing it, instead of just taking the shot,” says Reis.
Fire freely, even from outside the penalty area
The coach finds enough candidates in his own ranks who are also dangerous from a distance. “Eduard Löwen, Sebastian Polter, Danny Blum, they could take heart and be a bit more selfish in some situations.” That’s one of the reasons why the training sessions are going on at the moment: Fire away, even from outside the penalty area.
Keyword Danny Blum: The magician’s foot is getting into better and better swing after his long compulsory break, is now also better prepared physically and has certainly recommended himself for more in short appearances. “It took him a long time to get back into the swing of things. But now Danny is in really good shape again,” confirms Reis.
The basic problem, however, is that unlike Robert Tesche or Anthony Losilla, for example, who always go full throttle in training, Blum sometimes holds back in some training sessions and relies fully on his excellent technique.
In Fürth, the 30-year-old only played his 20th Bundesliga game, “which,” Reis thinks, “is of course far too few considering his qualities. But who knows, he definitely has the skills to continue to make a splash in the Bundesliga”.
20,000 spectators are allowed against Frankfurt
Perhaps already on Sunday. The VfL will close out the ninth matchday against table neighbours Eintracht Frankfurt in the evening (7.30 pm). Then up to 20,000 spectators will again be admitted to Castroper Straße – with a total capacity of 27,599.
