After two days off, preparations have begun at Rot-Weiss Essen for the away game at Dynamo Dresden. Fears for important player.
A goal can work wonders for a center forward. Manuel Wintzheimer provided a highlight at the public training session of third division soccer club Rot-Weiss Essen on Wednesday afternoon. The RWE attacker was played the ball at the left corner of the penalty area in the final game, the 25-year-old took the ball with his right foot and slammed it into the right corner of the goal with his left.
The 50 or so RWE fans who watched the session in sunny weather on Hafenstrasse gave him a loud round of applause. Wintzheimer had emphasized after his first competitive goal in the Niederrhein Cup against VfB Hilden that he was in top form. He confirmed this impression on Wednesday. His new-found self-confidence was also evident in his actions.
On the other hand, the fact that Lucas Brumme did not take part in team training was a cause for concern for the RWE supporters in attendance. The left-back had missed last weekend’s cup game due to problems with his Achilles tendon. In addition, the 25-year-old had to have a tooth extracted.
The plan was for Brumme to return to training this week after the two days off on Monday and Tuesday. However, Brumme was only able to train individually and watched from the bench in running shoes at the end of the training session.
RWE coach Christoph Dabrowski explained that, in view of the difficult away game on Sunday (1:30 p.m., MagentaSport), everything is still open. “We have to look at Lucas from day to day, he still has problems. We hope it’s enough.”
The same applies to Nils Kaiser, who replaced Brumme at left-back during the first half of the cup game but remained in the dressing room with muscular problems. The 22-year-old also did his laps around the training ground alone.
On the other hand, Dabrowski will in all likelihood be able to call upon a trio of players who have been missing recently. Attackers Thomas Eisfeld, Kelsey Owusu and Robbie D’Haese completed large parts of Wednesday’s training session without any problems. “We have two sessions on Thursday and we’ll have to see how the three of them react to the strain, but at the moment it looks good,” said Dabrowski.
RWE coach Dabrowski sees “intensity” in Boyamba and Safi
Wingers Joseph Boyamba and Ramien Safi looked motivated during training. Both were criticized after the hard-fought 2-0 win against Oberliga side VfB Hilden. Dabrowski hadn’t mentioned any names, but it was obvious that he wasn’t satisfied with Safi and Boyamba. On Wednesday, things looked different. “The intensity was there today. More is needed, that’s for sure.”
The intensity must be right in all parts of the team when they face second-placed Dynamo Dresden in the cauldron that is the Rudolf-Harbig Stadium. Dabrowski is reminding his team of their responsibilities ahead of the clash between the traditional clubs. “We’re up against an opponent with a lot of power. It’s up to us to hold out against them.”