The wind is getting rougher at VfL Bochum. Ahead of coach Thomas Letsch lies a busy week with many analyses and discussions.
It might have been a short night at Castroper Straße. VfL Bochum’s performance at home in the Ruhrstadion against Borussia Mönchengladbach (1:3) had to sink in first – especially for coach Thomas Letsch.
It is part of his philosophy to first get an overview. That’s why he never actually speaks to the team after games. “That’s really very, very rare.” On Saturday night, it wasn’t that time either.
“Because I think there are a lot of emotions on both sides after the game.” Therefore, he said, the rule for everyone is to sleep on it for a night first. “First, it is then more accurate and secondly with a little less emotion.”
With the coaching team, Letsch had agreed to a very early meeting on Sunday morning. “That can also be before eight o’clock.” Together, he said, everything would then be scrutinized: approach, decisions, changes – what went wrong that resulted in such a game?
Against Gladbach, for example, the high pressing went completely nowhere. “All the things we were celebrated for also had to do with tactics,” Letsch said. “Now we’ve taken one on the chin and everyone is rightly asking if it’s not too much of a risk. That’s normal and I’m facing that as well.”
VfL Bochum: bold approach backfires
Of course, he said, it’s both an opportunity and a risk. “And if we play it like that, then it’s too risky. We’re already thinking about whether what we’re doing is nonsense. It’s not like we’re saying, hey awesome, 19 goals against, let’s move on, it’ll be fine – no.”
VfL allowed 27 shots on goal at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach. “That’s a scandal. There we will look exactly why, why, why and then we will adapt.” That will also affect the starting eleven.
At least Matus Bero, who in recent weeks marched away in front in terms of running, will be missing in the near future. It is possible that a Lukas Daschner or Philipp Förster, who have shown good approaches after their substitutions, will get their chance from the start.
VfL Bochum: Next up are Leipzig and Freiburg
“We deliberately didn’t want to throw everything overboard after a game in Munich,” Letsch said. “We did well for three games before that. Now we question everything, but we are already convinced of what we are doing here. Otherwise, that would be bad.”
With the results of the coach analysis, he said, the team will be approached afterwards. He added that this was not about apportioning blame, but about working together to get out of this precarious situation. “But logically, we won’t pat ourselves on the head and say it’s nice that we’re together, but talk to each other a little more energetically.”
That will carry through next week, he said. “We’ll talk to the players, individually and as a group, but you don’t win games from talking. It’s about following up with action. “
With a view to the next task, this will not be so easy. On Saturday (October 7, 3:30 p.m.), it’s off to RB Leipzig. “There are easier things, but you can also say the other way around: we don’t have much pressure in Leipzig and that’s how we have to approach it.” But for now, it’s a case of working through Gladbach and ticking it off.