The battle for places in Bochum’s attacking department is intensifying again. However, the promoted team will probably have to do without two important players for the start of the second half of the season against Wolfsburg on 9 January.
Positive news for Thomas Reis: At the start of training on Monday, four of the last five missing offensive players returned to the training pitch. Simon Zoller is on the right track after tearing his cruciate ligament in rehab, although he is still far from playing.
Apart from that, the Bochum coach has more alternatives at the start of the second half of the season than he did in the English week just before Christmas. Eduard Löwen, for example, who has been sidelined for the last few weeks due to Corona, has been training individually, but is scheduled to take part in the full team training session on Wednesday.
The standard specialist will again be an option for the starting eleven in the first match of 2022 against Wolfsburg, as will Takuma Asano and Gerrit Holtmann, who have been missing recently. However, Kostas Stafylidis, who tested positive for Corona and is still in his native Greece, and winger Danny Blum are likely to be absent.
On good days, the “magic foot” can also pose some problems for his opponents in the Bundesliga, as he proved at least at times during the Hinrunde. Due to his persistent calf injury, Blum not only missed the entire preparation and the first games of the season, but also only gradually regained his footing.
By the end of September, the physical deficit had been made up, and Blum shone with his fine standards and finishes. The setback followed promptly when muscular problems set in again, and before Christmas the 30-year-old was out again.
The plan is for Blum to work individually in the first week of training. After the short break – there will be no training on Friday and Saturday – he could then at least partially rejoin team training from 2 January onwards.
However, as with Stafylidis, this is unlikely to be enough for him to be back in the squad against Wolfsburg. It has been shown time and again that Blum needs a very long run-up after his compulsory breaks to get back to the required physical level. But the fine technician already knows that: this time, too, it will be a long road back for him.
