VfL Bochum play one strong and one weak half in the test against Alemannia Aachen. Nevertheless, there was one novelty

Three test matches, three wins, but still a lot of work to do. That’s probably the conclusion after VfL Bochum’s 1-0 win over Alemannia Aachen on Friday evening.

Coach Peter Zeidler saw one good and one less good half from his team. “I think that was appealing, as always you have to see who you’re playing against. This was a highly motivated opponent who plays at third division level and will certainly not play a bad role. I can already make that prediction,” said the 61-year-old and analyzed: ”There was a lot to see in the first half. We played at a higher tempo. The players were already prepared for a positive aggression, you could see that.”

The result: VfL, who were initially challenged by Aachen’s counter-attacks, only allowed one shot on goal at the back and deservedly took the lead themselves shortly before the break. Felix Passlack crossed precisely to the head of new signing Dani De Wit, who nodded in with feeling to make it 1:0 (39′). Zeidler spoke of a great goal and “typical Bochum: great cross, great finish. ”

After the break, VfL showed a different face. In terms of personnel – Zeidler replaced the entire team apart from keeper Patrick Drewes – and in terms of performance. The coach spoke of a “gap”: “In the second half, we didn’t manage it as well, lost a lot of balls and had to chase a lot (…). Don’t ask me how often Aachen scored in the second half. Ten times? Ten times too many. Of course we can’t offer that.”

And yet he also saw two positive things. Firstly, that Bochum still won. Secondly, that the defense around Erhan Masovic, whom he explicitly highlighted, did not concede a goal. In fact, VfL had conceded at least one goal every time both in the entire summer preparations and in the first two tests under Zeidler. And that was partly against teams at amateur level.

VfL Bochum are still at the beginning of their preparations. There is still work to be done, both on and off the pitch. The coach is satisfied with the path we have taken together, but also knows that reinforcements are still needed. “That’s an open secret,” said Zeidler, adding mischievously: ‘And I don’t want to get into the role of demanding players, I’m expressly not doing that here either, because that will happen anyway. ’