Rot-Weiss Essen have two away tasks ahead of them after the international break. Christoph Dabrowski hopes the team can build on the home games.
Originally, Christoph Dabrowski wanted to play “courageous offensive football” as coach of Rot-Weiss Essen. The football coach had emphasised this again and again before the first league duel. But then came a 1:5 defeat against the current league leaders SV Elversberg. In the next two games against MSV Duisburg (2:2) and Viktoria Köln (1:4), the Essen team also acted too naively and made too many individual defensive mistakes.
The consequence: Dabrowski adapted to the situation and changed the basic order to achieve more defensive stability. This plan worked. After conceding eleven goals in the first three games, only six followed in the next six. RWE stabilised defensively, even if there is still room for improvement offensively. It is clear that the 3rd division is not about playing pretty, but about fighting, passion and tackling. The Essen team proved this on Monday evening with a 1-0 win against 1. FC Saarbrücken. Against the favourites, the coach first started with a four-man defence and then switched back to a five-man defence in the closing stages.
It’s about activity. We have to do the right things and not be reserved and passive. That’s crucial. We’ve done that quite well in the last few home games.
Christoph Dabrowski.
After the test match defeat at Arminia Bielefeld (0:3) on Thursday afternoon, the coach explained what is important for him in the current phase: “The attitude is basically always there. That’s not an issue for me at all. The boys want it, that’s clear. It’s about activity. We have to do the right things and not be reserved and passive. That is crucial. We managed to do that quite well in the last home games. The fact that we lost the first two games at home hurts brutally, of course. We don’t need to discuss that. But we have improved since then. It was important that we played to nil for the first time against Saarbrücken.”
After two home victories in a row, the Red and Whites would like to get their first win away from home. They have two opportunities to do so. On 2 October (2 p.m.), RWE plays host to SV Wehen Wiesbaden and one week later (9 October, 2 p.m.), Dabrowski’s team travels to the U23 of SC Freiburg. Two difficult games for the promoted team, even if the coach affirms: “There are generally no easy tasks. That’s not a phrase either, it’s the truth.”
Similar to the game against Saarbrücken, Essen would like to surprise in the underdog role and climb further up the table. “We can be competitive anywhere. We have seen that,” says Dabrowski confidently.