Maximilian Wittek has already experienced several coaching changes. The VfL Bochum left-back believes the team also has a responsibility. Will the turnaround happen in Nuremberg?

Game one after the dismissal of Dieter Hecking and Dirk Dufner at VfL Bochum. On Saturday (8:30 p.m.), they travel to 1. FC Nürnberg. It’s a clash between two clubs in crisis. The bottom club welcomes the sixteenth-placed team – and both clubs wanted to be at the top.

Before the game, we spoke to VfL veteran Maximilian Wittek about…

… the departure of Dieter Hecking: “Farewells like this are never easy. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many coaching changes in my career. It’s never nice when someone is relieved of their duties. Dieter took the reins in a very precarious situation. We managed to stabilize ourselves at times. In the end, unfortunately, there was no sporting success. He’s been around long enough to know how things like this end. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to compensate for that as a team. We also have to take responsibility as a team. Nevertheless, we don’t have much time to look back. We have an important game ahead of us on Saturday, so we have to prepare ourselves as best we can. We wish Dieter all the best.“

Interim coach David Siebers: ”David makes a good impression. You can tell that he is passionate about VfL. Everyone who knows him personally is aware of this. He is attempting to instill certain qualities in the team, without attempting any major changes. He also embodies the VfL DNA. He stated at the press conference what he expects from us. I hope we can deliver, but there are no guarantees.”

… the game in Nuremberg: “I hope we can take a first step in the right direction there. First and foremost, it will be a very intense game. Nuremberg hasn’t had a good start either. Things aren’t looking rosy for them either. I hope we can stand our ground there, get off to a good start and gain some new confidence. Not everything will work right away, we’re not machines. Mistakes will happen, but the important thing is that we function as a team.“

… the last game in Paderborn, which Wittek missed: ”It hurts twice as much when you’re sitting at home and can’t do anything about it. There’s no point beating around the bush. The first half wasn’t good, we can be glad that we didn’t fall behind early on. In the end, you have to take a point home with you, even if it wasn’t deserved. When it’s 0-0 in the 90th minute, you should see it through. We didn’t manage to do that, which reflects our situation.” cb / gp