Back to the homeland: After ten intensive days at the winter training-camp in Portugal, the Lady-Wolves make their way back to Wolfsburg on Sunday. Following stop-overs in Seville and Munich, the Green-Whites are expected to land in Hannover on Sunday afternoon. In exactly one week from now, VfL coach Stephen Lerch’s side play their first competitive game of the year, with the rescheduled DFB-Cup ‘Round of 16’ clash with BV Cloppenburg set for Sunday, February 11th (kick-off 14:00 CET).
"Very satisfied"
The Lady-Wolves are indeed well-prepared for the re-start. With several players away on duty with their respective national teams in January, Stephen Lerch had the bulk of his squad together for the first time over a longer period whilst on the Algarve. "I am very satisfied with the training-camp and the accomplishments of the players. We went through some very intensive sessions with almost the compete team. We laid the groundwork athletically and also worked on some tactical issues." Naturally, whilst working close to the town of Faro, the Green-Whites took the opportunity to test their wares under competitive conditions and the Lady-Wolves proved utterly convincing throughout, as they notched up a 5-0 test-friendly win over Spanish first division side SC Huelva. "It was a successful test for us, from which we got a lot of insights. We are well-prepared for the re-start," noted Lerch.
Groundwork laid
The trainer-team around the VfL coach enjoyed exceptional conditions on the Algarve, just as they had done in previous years. Aside from the hard work, there was also plenty of fun to be had in training and at the team-event, which is vital in gelling the team even closer together as a unit. "I was really happy to see how the team worked together both on, as well as away from, the pitch. Observing that, makes me very confident that we have laid the groundwork here for a successful second half to the season. The trainer-team made ideal use of the optimal conditions here and the intensive days here also helped the new players to integrate into the team even more quickly," commented Sporting director of women’s football at VfL, Ralf Kellermann.
