After the drama without a happy ending against Kickers Emden, VfB continues in the Regionalliga Nord. Several players are injured or ailing – two ex-Lübeck players, of all people, are giving hope.
To read this article, take out one of our offers or log in as a subscriber. All content on NWZonline and in the NWZ news app will then be available to you without restriction.
Oldenburg – Digesting a dramatic cup exit on penalties, coping with two more losses, licking the physical wounds and getting their heads back up again: Head coach Fuat Kilic and his coaching team had to do a lot of mental work at VfB Oldenburg on Thursday and Friday. The bitter 3:6 defeat on penalties in the first round of the Lower Saxony Cup against Kickers Emden is still omnipresent, and this Saturday (3 p.m.) at Phönix Lübeck the aim is to score the first away points of the season in the regional league.
Loading…
Many injuries
“We have to swallow the bitter pill. Now we have to recover as quickly as possible,” said Kilic immediately after the 0:2, 3:2, 3:3 and then 3:6 drama against Kickers, indirectly addressing a problem that also directly affected sports director and squad planner Sebastian Schachten in August. After Drilon Demaj (tendon irritation, return not yet confirmed) and Nick Otto (broken foot), Nico Mai (torn thigh muscle) and Linus Schäfer (thigh) were also injured against Teutonia Ottensen and will be out of action against Emden. With Marc Schröder and Jason Tomety-Hemazro injured and Rafael Brand having to be substituted against Emden, VfB is already short on personnel before the third league game.
To make matters worse, the match in Lübeck’s Buniamshof was brought forward from Sunday to Saturday at the request of the police, thus reducing Oldenburg’s recovery time. The match will now take place almost parallel to VfB Lübeck’s home match at the Lohmühle against Hamburger SV II (4 p.m.). The fans of VfB Lübeck and Oldenburg are not considered to be particularly friendly, and the scheduling is intended to avoid encounters as much as possible.
FOOTBALL STATE CUP This Emden goalkeeper drives VfB Oldenburg to despair
FOOTBALL STATE CUP These are the reactions from Oldenburg and Emden to the cup spectacle
Hauke Richters
Oldenburg
Highlights Pokal-Derby
STATE CUP CRACK IN THE NORTHWEST Kickers Emden wins cup derby – Listen to the decisive minutes
MORITZ ONKEN ON KICKERS EMDEN’S CUP WIN “Emotionally, that was the greatest thing I have ever experienced”
Pressure in squad situation
“At the moment, a lot is going against us in terms of personnel. We have to deal with long-term absences, which doesn’t make it any easier. It is clear that we are not so well positioned in terms of breadth,” says Kilic, certainly knowing that the summer transfer window is still open until the end of August. However, VfB had clearly communicated its plan for this season to put less money into the player budget and more into the structures – and now faces the problem: every new signing in response to the injuries makes the squad more expensive than planned. “Carrying on as before” and hoping that the injured and ailing players will return quickly is nevertheless quite risky. It is no secret that sports director Schachten is keeping his eyes open.
Meet ex-Lübeck residents
There was, however, two pieces of good news one evening at the Marschwegstadion, which meant that VfB would not be able to compete in the financially lucrative competition again until at least 15 years after its last participation in the DFB Cup (2011; 1:2 against Hamburger SV). These have a direct bearing on the opponent and surprise third-place finisher of last season. Vjekoslav Taritas (85th minute) and Julian Meier (90th) each scored their first competitive goal for VfB after moving from Trave to Hunte in the summer. While Taritas (two assists against Ottensen, goal against Emden) found his place in the starting eleven early on, Meier is still fighting for his chance from the start.
Meanwhile, Phönix missed the offensive qualities of both current VfB players in its only game of the season, which was lost 2-0 at BW Lohne. Incidentally, Lübeck’s next opponent is Borussia Dortmund. In the first round of the DFB Cup, the club will face this year’s Champions League finalists in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion. More than 46,000 tickets have already been sold – meaning Phönix will receive the income that VfB has been waiting for since 2011.
