“We’re still in the first preseason phase which means a lot work. With the little drills of three to four minutes, we try and accelerate as much as possible. The heartbeat rises very quickly and the trick is to recuperate as quickly as possible. The closer we get to the start of the season, the more we’ll work on speed and explosiveness. The players don’t have any choice – they have to knuckle dwn and work hard. We’re in preseason training and I believe in the principle that when you feel good physically, you’re not scared of anyone. If we’re strong physically, we’re also strong mentally and mental strength can allow us to push beyond our limits and be even stronger.” Since you joined the club, you haven’t yet had a full-strength squad to train. Is that a problem in preseason training?
“No player is more important than another. In my opinion, it’s the team that counts and I’ve been working well with the players available. To take the example of Papus Camara, first and foremost, it’s a problem for him. The team keeps training and it will be up to the squad to ensure his absence isn’t noticed too much. For Guillaume Hoarau, the same goes. I hope to have Guillaume back in two to three weeks but again, I think we have the squad to cover his absence.”
“If we work well together, he will be ready for the first match of the season. It will depend on how he feels, and if he’s not quite ready we won’t be taking any risks. He’s back training lightly and hopefully he’ll start doing more over the course of the next week.” Concerning Mevlut Erding, how is his injury progressing?
“I’ve been keeping a close eye on him and can tell you that, after this morning’s training session, he will play on Wednesday. Having said that, there’s still today’s afternoon session and one on Wednesday morning and we’ll have another look at him after each session. We’re watching how he reacts and acting accordingly. He’s getting stronger, but we have to be careful.”
"There will be two teams and everyone will play 45 minutes. Wednesday's game is a training match and the game itself is not the objective, but rather, to keep on training with a maximum number of players."
