Ahead of their upcoming road trip to Ulm, MSV Duisburg played another Development League match against SpVg Schonnebeck. Here’s what Dietmar Hirsch took away from the 5-0 victory.

For many of MSV Duisburg’s professional players, Tuesday evening (January 27) meant a double session. After the first training session in preparation for the upcoming away game at SSV Ulm, the team played a development match at Westender Straße against Spielvereinigung Schonnebeck, currently second in the Oberliga Niederrhein.

After 90 minutes and a dominant second half, the final score was 5–0 in favor of MSV Duisburg. The lineup included players from the U19 team as well as first-team players who have seen less playing time this season. We spoke with Coach Dietmar Hirsch after the game.

Dietmar Hirsch on…

…the 90 minutes: “First and foremost, these games are about getting playing experience. That’s much more important than training. On top of that, playing with the U19 players helps strengthen our connection with the youth academy. The result was good, and the intensity was high against a very strong Oberliga team that’s at the top of the standings for a reason. Of course, our execution wasn’t 100 percent, but I thought the team showed a lot of commitment, and the U19 players did very well, too. I’m very satisfied.”

…trial player Dominik Becker: “I really liked what I saw from him. Flawless, solid. Just the way a center back needs to play—flawlessly. He dribbled boldly, and you can tell he already has good pace. That’s a good thing for a center back. So we’ll just have to wait and see.”

And we were awarded two penalty kicks. That’s why I say those were nice, too. We hadn’t gotten them that often up to this point

Dietmar Hirsch

…Gabriel Sadlek at left back: “You could tell he’s lacking match practice. That’s another reason why it was good that we had this game. Now, with the weekend in mind, we’ll have to see if we stick with this setup or make a different arrangement. We could also put a right-footed player there. But we’d prefer to have a left-footed player in that spot. We’ll just see—we still have a few days until the Ulm game.”.

..the strikers’ successes: “All goals are good and build confidence. Whether it’s Flo Krüger or Simon Symalla, who scored two goals. Andy Visser also scored a great goal—in true striker fashion. I think all the goals were beautiful. And we got two penalty kicks for a change. That’s why I say those were beautiful, too. We haven’t had that many up to this point.”