Stevens ahead of Leverkusen game: "I hate losing"

Huub Stevens on...

...the opposition.

Leverkusen are a good side, especially going forward they have a lot of quality. Their style of play suits the players very well. They are aggressive, and use this aggression try to force their opponents into making mistakes at the back. We can’t afford to make these mistakes, especially not where they will try to force us into them. Leverkusen will not know what to expect from us, and it’s the same for us. 

...personnel

Tarik Elyounoussi and Pirmin Schwegler will definitely not be playing on Saturday. Schwegler is training individually again, but that won’t suffice. Aside from those two, we have a number of other players out with various injuries - Steven Zuber, Fabian Schär, Nadiem Amiri and Kevin Volland trained with the rest of the team without any problems, but they are still vulnerable to a setback. In these instances, we just have to wait. As far as Andrej Kramaric is concerned, I also cannot say yet whether he’ll be in the squad. He has made a good impression in the last two training sessions. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of that.

...the current situation I

The table doesn’t lie and it doesn’t make things any easier for the players. But the league standing that counts is the one after matchday 34. I’m not thinking about that just yet. It’s one game at a time. We work in the present. That means that every player always has every chance of making the squad or the starting XI. All of us - myself, my coaching staff, the players - we're all itching to fight back. I want to be there for the lads, but on the pitch, for the 90 minutes, they have to make it happen themselves. During the game, I can only influence things to a certain extent. I try to instil them with the confidence they need. I hate losing. They know that.   

...the current situation II

We scored too few goals in the first half of the season. Andrej Kramaric is a player who can hopefully help us change that. He has already proven himself capable of this. On top of this, he is a versatile player who can play as a loan striker or slot into a 4-4-2 formation. He will give us more flexibility as a team.

...the current situation III

You’re always going to be faced with injuries throughout preparations - it's completely normal. But those who are fit are properly fit. The players sent out a message through their determination in the South African heat. In these games, it’s often about starting from scratch in order to carry on plugging away. The players have to deal with the negative pressure that comes with being rock bottom.

Previous encounters:

One win and one draw is all TSG have to show from the 15 Bundesliga clashes with Bayer 04. A record to forget. The only win came courtesy of a stoppage-time goal by Anthony Modeste in March 2013.  Hoffenheim won the game in Leverkusen 3-2. The Frenchman wore the number 27 that day which since Wednesday is being worn by no other than new signing Andrej Kramaric. A good omen for TSG, perhaps.

The opposition‘s form:

A 1-0 win against Santa Fe, 3-3 against SC Internacional, and a 2-1 defeat against VfL Bochum: Leverkusen’s friendly results over the winter break don’t exactly suggest fantastic form, but they were only friendlies after all. Four of the five goals scored over the three games came from Bayer's strikers on the counter, with the other being an own goal, so they're clearly in the mood up front. We'll have to wait and see how they play at the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena before we make any judgements.

The key battle:

A single player rarely decides a game by himself, but he can prove to be the difference from time to time. New signing Javer Hernandez was that player in Leverkusen, and he's scored eleven goals in just over 1000 minutes on the pitch. Perhaps TSG can turn the WIRSOL Rhein-Neckar-Arena into a melting pot despite the freezing temperatures. If we can keep the 'Little Pea' quiet, it'd be a big step in the direction of picking up points in the second half of the season.

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