KFC Uerdingen, a team in the Oberliga Niederrhein, kicks off the second half of the season on Saturday. However, the final preseason friendlies before the restart revealed a few shortcomings.
The second half of the season in the Oberliga Niederrhein begins this coming weekend. For KFC Uerdingen, currently in third place after the first half of the season, the season resumes on Saturday (January 31, 4 p.m.) with an away match against Sportfreunde Baumberg.
In recent days, the Krefeld-based team played two more friendly matches to prepare as best as possible for the remainder of the season. However, these did not go as coach Julian Stöhr had hoped, as the team suffered two losses against the Westphalian Oberliga sides TSG Sprockhövel (0-3) and Westfalia Rhynern (2-3).
It seems Stöhr and his coaching staff still have a lot of work to do before the league resumes. “No, that definitely wasn’t what we had envisioned—both in terms of the results and our play. I had actually thought that we were on the right track after the tournament in Hordel,” the 35-year-old said critically in an interview with the club media, reflecting on the preseason preparations.
He added: “Okay, our legs were heavy because we’d been training a lot, had a few injuries, and others had to play a lot as a result. After all, we’d now played five games in twelve days. You have to take that into account, too. But especially when it came to decision-making and the quality of our passing, we were absolutely not good.”
To make matters worse, injury woes struck KFC at this inopportune time. Adam Tolba will be out for some time with his muscle injury. Pierre Rogasik and winter signing Ulrich Bapoh are sick. Noah Tomson and Dave Fotso Youmssi are carrying injuries and are listed as questionable for Saturday.
“In the winter, you’re generally always more susceptible to injuries. But we can’t complain in that regard,” Stöhr said, seeing no cause for concern. “In the first half of the season, we had virtually no injuries compared to other teams. And if we can maintain that level when it comes to injuries, I’d be very satisfied. I hope most of the guys will be ready to play on Saturday.”
