Awareness instead of confusion

Florian Kohfeldt on “psychological issues” and finding solutions on the pitch

Head coach Florian Kohfeldt is pushing for his players to be more focused (Photo: nordphoto).
First Team
Thursday, 20.02.2020 / 16:10

With each matchday that ticks by, Werder have fewer and fewer opportunities remaining to pick up points in the Bundesliga this season. This has caused the pressure to perform on the pitch to increase at the Osterdeich in recent weeks. Werder need to pick up points in order to escape the relegation zone, preferably starting with this weekend’s game against Dortmund. The team are well aware of the current situation, but this added pressure will not prevent them from playing their game. In contrast to what several outsiders and the media have had to say, head coach Florian Kohfeldt is not reducing the current situation down to a “psychological issue.”

For the Werder coach, looking for a reason to explain the recent sporting crisis is just a “cheap” excuse for the lack of recent results. Instead, the coach places the blame for the goals conceded and the resulting defeats on a lack of concentration in key moments. “If you defend the way we did on the first goal, then you have to be able to match the speed of your opposing player,” Kohfeldt said as he explained the mistakes made that allowed Leipzig to open the scoring from a set piece last Saturday. Kohfeldt also placed the blame on a lack of awareness from his players, saying “You cannot duck out of making that diagonal run to get back. You need to follow through. That’s down to our awareness.”

Florian Kohfeldt speaks to the media at a pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's game versus Dortmund (Photo: nordphoto).

But, Kohfeldt also didn’t want to shy away from discussing the possibility of there being a psychological issue during Thursday’s pre-match press conference. “If we move into space, and play football the way we set out to and it then doesn’t work, that’s when we have a psychological issue,” he said. At the same time, the head coach offered up solutions in order to prevent this from happening. The team needs to return to the basics on the pitch, which includes going back to “Long balls, not being stagnant at the back, moving the ball quickly and threatening both down the wings and up front.” In a nutshell: everything that Werder brought to the pitch in spectacular fashion against Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal.

The knowledge that, “if certain requirements are met,” his team have what it takes to beat the current third-place side, means Kohfeldt is optimistic as he looks ahead to this weekend’s match-up. “There will be chances to spoil the evening for them,” he said. “That’s our goal for Sunday, is to win at home.” 

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