Melsungen (oz / fs) – Almost two months lie between the last competition of MT Melsungen in 2020 and the first in 2021. After the league break, due to the world championship, North Hesse will start the away game at TuSEM Essen on February 11th second half of the season of the handball Bundesliga.
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The term “second half of the season” is actually misleading. As the only team in the league, MT has so far only played around a quarter of the 38 games. On Monday, coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson, himself as head coach with Iceland one of eight World Cup participants from the MT team, gathered his protégés to prepare for a tough re-entry into the league.
At the start of training on Monday, the MT head coach, with the exception of Tobias Reichmann, welcomed his entire squad to the Melsunger Stadtporthalle. While the right winger is still convalescent due to a recent knee operation, Domagoj Pavlovic can at least participate in the running units again after his foot injury has healed quite well.
The reunion of the World Cup participants with their Melsung teammates, who had meanwhile kept fit at home under the guidance of assistant coach Arjan Haenen and athletics coach Florian Sölter, spurred the atmosphere in the training hall. “It was great fun seeing the guys again. I was really looking forward to it. Also on the extensive conversations in the cabin after the training, ”reveals Kai Häfner. His national team colleague Julius Kühn adds: “It’s nice to be able to train again on home soil and in our hall. After the disenchantment at the World Cup, we’re just happy to be back home ”.
The focus these days is of course clearly on the upcoming games. This month the red and white team will have a tough time: In 18 days there are five encounters on the program, three at home in Kassel and two away. Because due to corona cases in the league – including the MT – six games were canceled in the first half of the season and had to be postponed to new dates, the MT fell behind the most. While the majority of the 20 Bundesliga clubs have already played 15 or even 16 games, MT’s record shows only 10. It goes without saying that the current 13th place in the table is therefore meaningless. At least the program for this month is now in place. It starts on February 11th, at 7:00 pm, in the sports hall “Am Hallo” against the newcomers TuSEM Essen.
Coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson looks at the current situation with very mixed feelings: “Overall, that is very problematic. In the course of the season so far, we haven’t really been able to find a rhythm because of the many interruptions in match and training operations. If an entire team is sent to quarantine at home for ten or even fourteen days, as has happened to us several times, it then almost starts again from scratch. Therefore it is impossible to formulate an exact goal for the further season. We can just look from game to game and try to improve in certain areas. What our prospects for the game next week in Essen will look like is hard to predict after the long time without training together. We hope to get back together quickly. ”
What the MT head coach registered positively, however, is the physical condition of his players: “Except for Tobias Reichmann, the World Cup participants came home without injuries. And the other players have meanwhile continued to train and are absolutely fit. That is very gratifying ”. Wenger, however, the fact that with Tobias Reichmann and Domagoj Pavlovic two regular employees will initially be absent. How long is currently not exactly foreseeable.
The MT program in February
Thursday, February 11th, 2021, 7 p.m., TUSEM Essen – MT Melsungen
Sunday, February 14th, 2021, 4 p.m., MT Melsungen – TVB Stuttgart
Thursday, February 18th, 2021, 7 p.m., MT Melsungen – SC DhfK Leipzig
Thursday, February 25th, 2021, 7 p.m., TSV Hannover – MT Melsungen
Sunday, February 28th, 2021, 4 p.m., MT Melsungen – SC Magdeburg
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