Third division side Rot-Weiss Essen are away to FC Ingolstadt on Saturday. Last weekend, the focus was on the annual general meeting.
After five league wins in a row, the Rot-Weiss Essen players had no game last weekend due to the international break. Head coach Christoph Dabrowski gave the team three days off before the ball rolled again at Hafenstraße last Sunday.
Before the training session, however, the players, coaching team, and all those responsible attended the extraordinary annual general meeting at Messe Essen. Unlike the canceled AGM in June, this event was a success.
When the team said goodbye, they were celebrated by the approximately 460 RWE members in attendance with chants of “away win” in anticipation of the upcoming third division match at FC Ingolstadt (November 25, 2 p.m.). It was an all-around successful and positive day for Rot-Weiss Essen.
Dabrowski saw it similarly. A few days later, the former professional explained at a press conference on Thursday: “The team was really welcomed and sent off with applause. Everything the officials had to say sounded very good. It all made sense. It was all very positive. Nevertheless, I didn’t get the feeling that the guys were on a high during the subsequent training session because they had been celebrated so frenetically. Quite the opposite. After three days off, the guys were just keen to play soccer again and spend time together. Receiving such encouragement will continue to push the guys forward.”
Overall, we trained well, hit our training targets, and the team is perfectly prepared to go into Saturday’s game.
Christoph Dabrowski.
Two days after the AGM, the U21 international between Germany and Poland took place at the Hafenstraße stadium on Tuesday evening. When asked whether this match disrupted the team’s routine, Dabrowski replied:
“This match only had an impact on Monday. We had actually planned to do a double session, but had to clear out the dressing room in the afternoon. That’s why we trained at 8:45 a.m. It was a very long session on the pitch, during which we also integrated our strength training. Tuesday was a day off, but that was planned. We didn’t have access to the stadium at all. Overall, we trained well, fully met our training parameters, and the team is optimally prepared to go into Saturday’s game.”