On Saturday 4 March (kick-off 13:00 CET), VfL Wolfsburg Women welcome fourth-placed TSG 1899 Hoffenheim to the AOK Stadion. The Green-and-Whites won 2-1 in the reverse fixture in September. At the pre-match press conference, head coach Tommy Stroot spoke about…
…the team news: “Other than the suspended Svenja Huth, everyone’s available.”
…returnee Jill Roord: “She’s match-fit and an option for either the starting line-up or as a substitute. We shouldn’t underestimate the fact she’s been out for a considerable length of time, but she’s fit enough for 45, maybe 60 minutes. We’ve seen many others in recent months, though. We know what Jule [Brand] is capable of, she’s getting into more and more good positions. Sveindis [Jonsdottir] is like a different player compared to the first half of the season. So, we have very good alternatives. At the same time, of course we’re extremely happy that Jill is back at a good time.”
…the convincing recent performances: “When I look at the last few weeks, I don’t just see a fulfilment of what we were already capable of but a development. I find that much more impressive. We’re not resting on the quality we have available. That’s really exciting, both for us as coaches and for the team. If we take the DFB Cup match at Köln, which for the most part I just enjoyed – and you don’t do that often as a coach. We were dominant in every phase, which was again the ‘next step’. We want to back that up against Hoffenheim.”
…the recent development at TSG: “I love playing against them because there’s a lot about them that we see the same or similarly. They’re still very dominant with the ball but also without it. The question is what they’ll do against us. In the reverse fixture they went for a more passive approach and were more compact, in order to play on the counter. They’re always capable of adjusting their game plan and I’m keen to see what happens.”
