During the week, the Austrian was working hard with his teammates as usual, but after the final training session before the weekend, he could only offer them words of encouragement. Now, once again, he has a match to look ahead to at the end of his week. “I am the captain so I have to set an example. For that reason, I always try to prepare myself the best I can with the boys for every game,” said Friedl, on reflection. “It was obviously very different for me mentally, so I am pleased that the current training week is only a short one so I can get back to playing quickly.”
After picking up eight points from their first five matches, head coach Ole Werner’s side can look back on a very solid start to the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. The upcoming international break will offer the first chance for reflection and for evaluations to be drawn. “We really wanted to win going into the game, because we knew that we would then have a good start behind us,” judged captain Friedl. “The fixture list handed us a tricky start. We’ve still got some tough challenges ahead of us, which is why every point is important, but we’ve realised how we want to play and know that we can beat any opponent when we work together as a team on that pitch.”
