It was only two weeks ago that Kickers trainer Angelo Barletta was happy that he got 18 men together for the home game against Bayern Alzenau and didn’t have to leave a space on the registration form. Due to suspensions and injuries, the squad of the regional soccer team was extremely thin. In the meantime, however, the situation has relaxed so much that even hardship cases are increasing. Players who hadn’t expected it sat on the bench or even in the stands. There is hardly a part of the team that is not affected.
Offenbach – Before the game at VfB Stuttgart II on Saturday (2.30 p.m.), Barletta has to make the next difficult decisions. Luigi Campagna, who was used in all eight games up to his yellow-red card in Ulm (six times in the starting XI), is available again after being suspended. However, the OFC coach had expressly praised Tim Dierßen (who joined the team for Campagna) and Marco Fritscher in the most recent 1-0 home win against FC Gießen. Both had completed the full 90 minutes for the first time this season. With Fritscher, who previously only had a short assignment after a several-week injury break, you have to wait and see how well he has coped with everything, explained Barletta.
As a replacement, Francesco Calabrese is available, who was the long runner on the right in the defense in the first six games (played the full 90 minutes in each case), but then fell victim to the switch to a three-man chain due to suspensions and later the return of Fritscher. After coming on against his ex-club Bayern Alzenau eight minutes before the end, he did not play in Ulm and against Gießen recently.
The OFC trainer reported that these constellations were discussed during the week. Fritscher was “completely motivated” after his injury break and forced himself so intensely that there was no way around him. Dierßen also did not let himself down, although he was not in the squad twice. “I know from my time as a player what it means when you have the feeling that you are not wanted,” said Barletta. “It only works if you work on yourself.”
The Kickers coach emphasized that his focus during the week was on the game at VfB Stuttgart II, but that he had in the back of his mind the players that were rarely or not at all considered recently. Therefore, an internal test match against the U19 was agreed for Monday. Then, among other things, Luka Garic will be used, who recently took a break due to knee problems, but has trained again this week. Maik Vetter (tendon splitting), on the other hand, will probably only be back in two weeks.
And in a few weeks there will be another opportunity to keep some hardship cases happy: Barletta Dominik Draband has given Dominik Draband a guarantee for the Hessen Cup game on November 17th at Hünelder SV (Hessenliga). The goalkeeper from the previous season lost his place to Stephan Flauder and was not in the squad in the last two games. “It’s very frustrating for him. He could easily be number one elsewhere, but I can’t get past the U23 rule, ”explained Barletta.
The coach had to make room for Fritscher, Davud Tuma and Ronny Marcos (both after bans). It met Leonidis Tiliudis, among others. And because the U23 rule would not have been met without the home grown, Draband also had to give way. But the young goalkeeper Felix Ferahyan (21) moved into the squad. The fact that Pelle Hoppe (21) left and Elia Soriano (31) came made the situation worse.
Each club must have four players per game who fall under the U23 rule. Malte Karbstein (22) is always on the grass, the other three places were last covered by substitutes (Ferahyan, Denis Huseinbasic, Jakob Lemmer), so that only four non-U23 players could sit on the bench.
This sometimes leads to strange situations: Moritz Reinhard, who played 90 minutes in the opening game against Bahlingen, only made it into the squad twice in the last eight matches, but not on the pitch. Since the first matchday in the storm in Soariano, Mathias Fetsch and Florent Bojaj have added “enormous quality”, noted Barletta and also promised Reinhard a role in the Hessen Cup game.
Most recently, it even hit Serkan Firat: The footballing free spirit, who already played under Barletta in Griesheim and Alzenau, is a foster son of the coach, was not in the starting XI against Gießen for the first time. Tactics or restraint? “A bit of everything,” Barletta replied. “We have a nice, big, broad squad. I would just see it as a creative break. In the next few games it might meet someone else. “
From Christian Düncher
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