SV Straelen will face Rot-Weiß Oberhausen in the Regionalliga West on Saturday. Here’s how SVS sporting director Kevin Wolze looks ahead to the match.
These are eventful times for Kevin Wolze. Due to injury, the former MSV Duisburg captain moved from the pitch to management at SV Straelen this summer. Wolze took over as sporting director – and had to put together an almost completely new team. The Straelen team has already completed a whopping 44 transfers, evenly divided between new signings and departures.
“It was a very stressful, exhausting time because we had to rebuild the team. For me personally, it was exciting because I learned a lot,” says Wolze. And the transfer window is still open for just under a month. But the situation in Straelen is slowly easing. “By and large,” says Wolze, “we are through. But of course we are still keeping an eye on the market.” If the conditions fit, another striker could strengthen coach Sunday Oliseh’s team.
SV Straelen: Opponents RWO brought in two players from SVS
Two players who Straelen gave away in the summer will be reunited this Saturday (2pm, RS-Liveticker). Kelvin Lunga and Matona-Glody Ngyombo have moved to upcoming opponents Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. Two painful departures, after all, they were absolute key players at SVS. “They are super guys, in terms of character and sporting ability,” says Wolze about his former teammates. Especially from midfielder Ngyombo, a lot can still be expected. Lunga, on the other hand, will not play on Saturday, he is out due to a meniscus injury.
RWO is considered one of the title candidates in the Regionalliga. The cloverleaves initially underlined this with an opening win against Alemannia Aachen. But last week they dropped points against Borussia Mönchengladbach’s U23s, which ended in a 3-3 draw. “The game showed that they are vulnerable when you switch quickly,” says Wolze about the upcoming opponent – without wanting to go into further detail.
The Straeleners also have a wild game behind them. They took a break in the league, met FC St. Pauli in the DFB Cup – and delivered a crazy cup fight against the second-division team. It was only in injury time that SVS had to admit defeat with a score of 3:4. “We can be proud of our performance, even though the end was very bitter. We are taking a lot of positives with us,” says Wolze. To wit: “The game showed that we can hold our own against any opponent if everyone gives more than 100 per cent. “
SV Straelen ahead of English week
On the other hand, the first regional league game a week earlier had shown: “If we don’t reach our performance limits, it can also go the other way.” That was when Straelen lost 0:1 at Schalke 04’s U23. And rightly so, because the Blumenstädter had not put in a good performance. Wolze: “We’re not that solid yet, we just need more time after the big upheaval.”
However, the match schedule of the Regionalliga hardly allows for that: With the guest game in Oberhausen, an English week begins, in which Straelen will face the promoted 1. FC Kaan-Marienborn (Wednesday) and 1. FC Düren (Saturday).