Coach Marco Kostmann from the Bundesliga soccer club Arminia Bielefeld warned in the run-up to the relegation duel against Hertha BSC on Saturday (3:30 p.m. / Sky) about the opponents who had regained their strength.
“The team has become more stable overall. Hertha showed under Magath that they can put in a lot of effort and earn their points that way,” said the interim coach at the press conference on Thursday. “We have to counter that.”
Kostmann also praised Kevin-Prince Boateng, who recently played a more important role under the new Hertha coach Felix Magath: “He’s a player who swims behind the strikers and can create spaces and opportunities flexibly,” said the 56- year olds.
For the table-17. from Bielefeld the game has a decisive character in the relegation battle. Six points separate Arminia from the guests from Berlin on non-relegation place 15.
“I think we can play football better than arithmetic”
The gap to the relegation place, which VfB Stuttgart occupies, is two points. “I think we’re better at football than we are at math, so we’re concentrating on our job on the pitch,” said Kostmann.
Bielefeld still has to do without Fabian Klos on Saturday. The 34-year-old striker is still suffering from the consequences of a serious head injury from the game against VfB Stuttgart.
Also unavailable are defender Cedric Brunner (head injury) and offensive player Bryan Lasme (knee problems).