#SCFBVB news conference | Terzic: “Modeste is an option” | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic gave an injury update and other insights on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s Bundesliga match away to SC Freiburg.

INJURY UPDATE:

Terzic: “The only two players who are definitely out are Sebastien Haller and Niklas Süle. Everyone else is currently training.

“Salih Özcan only completed parts of yesterday’s public training session, but he had a training session later that afternoon. We’ve got to be careful with our players, but Salih is already moving well. So is Karim Adeyemi – we will have another check today to see how much he can train with the team, but there’s hope that both will be available on Friday.”

“Gio Reyna and Mateu Morey missed a lot last year. Obviously, we’re glad that they were with us during the pre-season, but we also said from the outset that we’ll take every day of safety over every day of risk. Both are moving well, and we’re happy they played some minutes in the friendly against Antalyaspor. Both are on a good way, and we’re looking forward to having them with us more often in the near future.”

…about Anthony Modeste’s chances to be in the starting XI against Freiburg:

“Anthony had his medical on Monday and then completed Tuesday’s training session. He is fully fit and ready to go. He’s a very good option for Friday.”

…about the challenge of integrating Modeste on short notice:

“Of course, it’s not easy but he’s already 34 years old and we didn’t sign him only for him to completely adapt his game. We signed him for the player he already was at 1. FC Köln and hope that he can continue where he left off. Under Steffen Baumgart he was instructed to work very diligently and that helped him achieve a fitness level that is probably better than ever. I don’t think it will be too complicated for him to integrate into our team.”

“Once it became clear that Erling Haaland was going to leave Dortmund, we concluded that we needed to add a striker that goes for a goal rather than assists. We have a lot of creativity and pace in our team, but we need a player upfront that can hold on to the ball for a couple of seconds or who can extend passes for teammates. Tony has been very effective in recent years in the Bundesliga, so we are glad to have him.”

…about Cologne’s frustrations over Modeste-announcement:

“I can understand the disappointment when you lose your top striker, who scored 23 goals in all competitions last season. I think their frustration was about the timing of the news reports because it happened right before their game against Schalke. However, we didn’t leak it, so we aren’t to blame for it. But as Tony said, he’s getting the chance to play Champions League football and to compete for titles at 34-years-old. That’s a rare opportunity he wanted to seize.”

We understand that it wasn’t easy for Modeste to leave Cologne because of all the love he received there. That sort of love allowed him to perform, and so it is now on us to show him this love and trust.”

…about insufficient ball retention in the second half v Leverkusen

“In the second half against Bayer Leverkusen, we won the ball in many promising positions, but we lost it four or five seconds later already. That meant, that we had to chase after the ball again, which cost a lot of energy. It’s important to improve the ball retention because otherwise you create a vicious cycle. You expand so much energy regaining possession that you’re too exhausted to then retain it. We showed our guys certain plays during our video analysis, and we will emphasise possession play during the training session today. Freiburg will be just as aggressive as Leverkusen, they will try to hit us on the counter-attack every chance they get, so we have to protect our own goal by keeping hold of the ball.”

…on what makes Freiburg such a tricky opponent:“With Christian Streich Freiburg have a coach who has done fantastic work since 2012. They continuously manage to replace key players with great talents from either their own youth ranks or with clever recruitment. They reached the DFB Pokal final last season and were in the fight for the Champions League places until the end, and qualified for the Europa League.”

“They continue to add new tactical elements to their game, they’re extremely threatening on set pieces. Last season, they scored the highest amount of goals after free kicks and corner kicks without having the highest amount of free kicks and corner kicks. So they are extremely efficient. Compared to last season, where they featured a very lethal left side with Grifo and Günter, they’ve now added Ritsu Doan on their right wing, who had a superb start to the season. If we want to fly home with three points, we need to raise our game compared to our last performances.”

…about Youssoufa Moukoko’s development:

“Moukoko has trained with the senior team since he was 16. He’s been used to the highest level from very early on, and he’s ready to play many minutes for the first team. At the same time, being Borussia Dortmund’s number 9 isn’t an easy task. If you’re not scoring, people start counting the minutes. We do not want him to feel this sort of stop watch around his neck quite yet because as a 17-year-old he must not feel burdened by this sort of pressure.”

“Nevertheless, Youssoufa has become a stronger player. He’s dealt with multiple injuries last season, and currently he’s on a good path of preventing further ailments. He’s ready to play senior football – he showed that in a Dortmund shirt, but also for Germany’s under 21s.”

“We’re very happy with his development but at the same time, there’s still a lot of work ahead of him.”

…about the culture Terzic is trying to create:

“Nico Schlotterbeck had a fantastic game against Leverkusen but he had one astray pass, where Mo Dahoud had to be there to help. Similarly, Mats Hummels played really well but in that one moment him and Thomas Meunier were caught out by Patrick Schick and then Kobel came to the rescue. This is what it’s all about. We must help each other – on and off the field. That’s the culture we’re striving for.”

(Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)