VfL Bochum’s training ground is bursting at the seams. VfL have hardly any absentees ahead of the Frankfurt game.

On Saturday (February 10, 3:30 p.m.), VfL Bochum will face Eintracht Frankfurt. Despite another late equalizer against FC Augsburg, the mood among coach Thomas Letsch’s team is likely to be better than at Eintracht, who are in sixth place but have yet to impress in 2024.

Patrick Osterhage does not yet see his opponents at the top level of the Bundesliga, but he warns against Eintracht, who recently lost 2-0 at 1. FC Köln and also lost Niels Nkounkou and Tuta to yellow cards for the VfL game. “This is a team with a lot of quality, they just don’t always play consistently. There are always games like in Cologne where they couldn’t win with their strength. Eintracht are not yet a top team, even if they are already very high quality. We need a great performance to take something away with us.”

And Letsch doesn’t believe that Eintracht are in trouble either: “I’m not really interested in what happens at other clubs. Frankfurt have strengthened very, very well in the winter. The players from the Africa Cup are also back, so we’ve got some real quality coming our way. It will be a nice challenge that we’re looking forward to. We’ve always looked good against Frankfurt so far.”

And so VfL will finally be looking to reward themselves for a performance away from home, after playing well for a long time in Leverkusen and being on a par with BVB – despite the defeat. Letsch: “When you play BVB at eye level, there are decisive scenes in which the game tips in one direction or the other. We didn’t manage to turn the game in our favor with one scene. We have to work on that. “

The big slugfest continues.

Thomas Letsch

And the coach once again has almost all the players at his disposal, with Takuma Asano also back in Bochum. 28 players were in training. Letsch: “The big scrap continues.” Although even Asano doesn’t have a free pass, as the coach reports: “Up until the Asian Cup, he always played from the start. If he’s fit, there’s a good chance he’ll return to the squad. I haven’t seen an injured outfield player yet. There will be cases of hardship, but I prefer it that way than if the team were to line up on its own.”

Especially as there will certainly be absentees in the coming weeks, as Christopher Antwi-Adjei, Matus Bero, Anthony Losilla, Erhan Masovic and Manuel Riemann are five players with four yellow cards. But Letsch is not taking them into consideration: “That’s a sensitive issue. We have five players who are cautioned. Why should we rest one of them? I don’t really do that. We won’t take it into consideration in Frankfurt.”

The squad density is also so high because the talents are putting pressure on the team. Recently, a trio managed to make the leap – Tim Oermann, Patrick Osterhage and Moritz Broschinski collected some playing minutes. Letsch: “It’s also about introducing young players. We currently have three talented players who are doing quite well. The criterion is never old or young. But it’s nice to see how the boys are developing. “