Bosz: ‘A thriller always needs two teams’

Peter Bosz on...

Return of international players during the Covid-19 crisis: Of course, I do have concerns when the players return. They are all in a bubble when we have them here in Leverkusen. The risk of infection is minimal. But now they are away with their national teams and also away from our bubble. We’ve been lucky up to now. When they come back we’ll really make sure and test them before they take part in full training.

Risk of injuries caused by the large number of games: You mustn’t forget: We have approximately the same number of competitive games with the club but two months less time. Of course, I do have sympathy for the associations. They have their own fixtures too. But I don’t understand why there have to be friendlies at the same time. That presents a big risk to the players. We have to manage workloads well as coaches.

Rotation: Of course, we have adjusted workload management according to the large number of games. But you need quality to be able to rotate. You can rotate if players are similar in terms of performance levels. With us, everybody has the quality to replace others. But the injuries mean that a lot of options have fallen away.

Start to the season: It was no surprise for me that we didn’t create that many goalscoring opportunities at the start of the season. We had to compensate for the creativity of Kai Havertz and the style of play of Kevin Volland after their transfers. That takes time. Not to forget: We didn't have six weeks pre-season but only a couple of days instead. That's why our game was very stable, very solid. And the thriller generally always needs two teams. Gladbach wanted to get forward all the time and that's how an attractive game came about.

Patrik Schick: He's back in full training. And when you see on the pitch then you think: He's fit, he can do everything. But he's not currently in a condition to play every three days. We are working on improving his core stability. We knew that when he came to us. He had to work on the physical side at the same time as improving his game through playing and cooperation with teammates. That takes time and happens in close cooperation with the fitness coaches and the medical department.

Lucas Alario: He's definitely the best player in our squad in the box. But football doesn't just depend on action in the penalty area. But he has developed there too and adjusted his way of playing. But he'll never play like Kevin Volland for example. But that's normal. Every player is different. Not least because of that, we have adjusted our strategy in high pressing. And because we wanted to prevent him getting injured, we've substituted him after 60 or 70 minutes in the past few weeks.

Leon Bailey: He wanted to have a chance on the right side the whole time. From there he can cut into the centre and look to finish with his strong left foot. That didn't work out brilliantly in the first match but it was okay. But is getting better and better. He has the confidence of the coaching staff and justifies it to. Of course, he played below his own potential last season but I don't hold that against him. You can't forget how young he is. He was only 23 in August. He's allowed to make mistakes. But he should learn from them. And now he's a dad. A crucial experience for everybody. Through that, he's learning to accept more responsibility.

Exequiel Palacios: I played football too long for that – it was not a normal challenge. I obviously don't know if it was intentional but the opponent had enough time to withdraw his knee. As a player, I wasn't always a good boy and was often very tough. But what happened to Pala was brutal. You get the impression the opponent was willing to accept the serious injury. I sent Pala a message after that and he thanked me in German. He's a good lad who continually wants to learn. He'll be back.

Joel Pohjanpalo: The injury is obviously a very bitter blow for the lad. I feel sorry. Fortunately it's not the other foot, which he had problems with two years ago. I saw then how much he did to get back on the pitch. I've definitely got my fingers crossed for him.

Transfers: Of course, the loss of Paulinho, Arias, Palacios and Aránguiz is a setback. But that doesn't automatically mean we will do something on the transfer market. We've got our ears and eyes open. We'll do something if a good opportunity presents itself. If not, we won't.