On Matchday 9 of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund will host promoted side SV Elversberg. Ahead of the match, head coach Niko Kovac attended a press conference where he discussed Guirassy's injury, Jobe Bellingham's development, and his expectations for the upcoming game. This is the second part of the press conference.
First part of the press conference
Kovac: Jobe deserves to be in the England squad, he will be a very good player
Hello Niko. Could you briefly summarize the team's recent matches, what I would call your current hot autumn schedule? How do you view this team? In which areas are you more satisfied now compared to the start of the season?
For a proper summary, perhaps we can talk after tomorrow's game. I'd like to include that match as well, because it will be our ninth Bundesliga game, in addition to four Champions League matches and two cup games. It's no secret that I'm already satisfied. Of course, there are always areas where we can be more satisfied, but overall I think we are on a very good path.
The team is progressing, and as it progresses, results will naturally follow. What we can plan for is performance and the players' willingness to perform; as for results, the opponent always has some influence. But we are currently on the right track, so I'm happy with the team's state right now.
I'd like to extend the topic of Jobe to several other players. Over the past year or two, you seem to have been somewhat unlucky with new signings: some players got injured as soon as they arrived, and some didn't adapt straight away. That was the case with Jobe, and also with Konstantinos Karetsas, who suffered two injuries after arriving. Joane Gadou has made great progress now. Who else have I forgotten? Chukwuemeka is also constantly improving. Fábio Silva is certainly another example; under your guidance, his development has been very positive. How exactly do you drive their progress, and how do you evaluate all of this?
I think that's a very good question. I've always said that when young players or foreign players come here, you have to give them time to adapt culturally to another country first. Of course, they also need to adapt to the training system here. Our training methods in Germany are different, and our standards and training focus differ greatly from those in other countries and leagues.
Players like Joey Veerman – he's not that young anymore – as well as Fábio and Chukwuemeka, all had to adapt to the Bundesliga first. We've seen that it takes time.
I know that in our industry time is short, and the players themselves are very eager to perform immediately. But in my experience, and I've been doing this for many years, it always takes time for someone to truly adapt. It varies from person to person; it could be three months, six months, or even nine months. Now we can see that the work done with these players has ultimately yielded very good results. Things don't happen immediately, but we will keep working for the long term and always stick to our approach.
The past, the present and the future have proven, and will continue to prove, that success comes from targeted work. As I said, you can plan the team's performance, but you cannot plan success in the same way. However, performance brings success. So I'm happy with the progress these lads have made. But they certainly haven't reached their limits yet; they still have a lot of room for improvement because they are all still relatively young.
I'd like to follow up on a player you just mentioned, Joey Veerman. Perhaps because of his age and background, he took a relatively short time to truly adapt here. Watching him in games, you notice that he can already control the rhythm and tempo of the game for the team, which is very interesting. I noticed this particularly in the match against Betis. Can you tell us more about him? What makes him special? He's not like Konstantinos Karetsas, who attracts everyone's attention by scoring goals, nor is he Fábio Silva, but he has still become an extremely important member of the team.
We've also seen that he needed a bit of time to adapt, which is clear. The pace of play in the Bundesliga is much more intense than in the Netherlands, and the defensive intensity here is also much greater, with more defensive commitment. In the Netherlands, the emphasis is clearly more on the football itself. So Joey's ability on the ball in the Bundesliga is certainly outstanding, among the very best.
What I really admire about him when he has the ball is that he plays very simply. There is both difficulty and beauty in simplicity. Playing football doesn't always require fancy back-heel flicks. What he needs to do is get the ball from the back to the front, and he does that exceptionally well. Of course, this also depends on his coordination with the teammates around him.
You can see that the central defenders trust him greatly. They constantly look for him, and he always finds good positions, with good body orientation, so he can quickly pass the ball forward or switch the point of attack.
He is a very intelligent player who reads situations in advance. He doesn't wait until he has the ball to start looking for solutions; he has already thought it through before receiving it. That means he makes decisions extremely quickly, which helps not only himself but especially the team. His presence benefits all of us greatly. As you said, this is also reflected in our control of the game. Last season we might not have achieved such control, but we showed it in the first half in Munich, now against Betis, and in the first half against Hamburger SV.
I think these are areas where we have made progress, but again, we can always improve further.
One more question about Guirassy. In principle, you only have one player like him in your squad, not only because of his goals but also because of his style of play. If such a player is missing, your game structure will indeed change. Can you talk specifically about what adjustments his teammates need to make, and how their actions on the field need to change?
First of all, Guirassy has a significant physical advantage, and his absence naturally affects us in both offensive and defensive set pieces. He has also scored many goals for us, which is another factor. But now the opportunity comes to players who have had less playing time in the past few weeks or even months. Fábio has made great progress, as we just discussed. I think Beier can perhaps play in a different position now, especially since we only have one out-and-out striker in that role.
Of course, we can adopt different approaches. These players are more the type who run into space in behind, and their speed and movement are different from Guirassy's.
So we have flexible options and must make the best use of the players we have. We won't stand here complaining that we are missing him. Situations like this are part of football, and injuries are ultimately part of this profession. The players who get the chance now must seize it, and I'm sure they will. Hopefully, we can continue to be successful.