'Worked very well on all levels': Pätzold reviews Women's training camp

Roberto Pätzold on...

…his impression from the training camp: "We've taken a big step forward this week. We had great conditions here and were able to work on a lot of technical aspects, some of which could be seen straight away in the friendly against Wolfsburg. At the same time, they've been very tiring and long days with a lot going on off the pitch too. We've gelled as a team and learned even more about each other. Thanks to the short distance between the hotel and the training pitch, we were able to work very efficiently. Despite the busy days, there was enough time to recover and switch off. We've worked very well on all levels, be it team-building, mental training, physical, technical or tactical. We've had some spectators, even some who watched every session, and had a girls' team on site one day, which we enjoyed a lot. The whole thing was rounded off by a friendly in front of a great crowd in a historic stadium against top-class opponents."

…the focus points in training: "We'd already done a lot of work on team tactics, in terms of pressing and attacking play. Defensively, the focus has primarily been on communication. In the friendly it was evident that we still have room for improvement when it comes to executing transitions purposefully, effectively and successfully after winning possession. Physical aspects are always important too."

…his impressions of the team chemistry: "When you're together for 24 hours, you also see how people behave off the pitch. We had many detailed individual analyses. Together with our sports psychologist, the players developed a motto for the season. Each player introduced herself with an individual presentation and described the strengths she wanted to bring to the team. It was very fascinating – and often very funny. The world is not just about football. Off the pitch, the players are young women with their own hobbies, values and personal histories. It was very exciting to get to know some of these aspects of their lives."

…the new faces in the team: "Calle [Carlotta Wamser] is bursting with energy and is pushing some of her team-mates to their limits with her physical style of play in training. That raises the level and shows everyone the energy and tempo you can go into tackles with. Valentina [Mädl] was sidelined for a long time and has fought her way back very well in a short space of time. As her fitness grows, you can see the technical ability she has, the flair and movement she offers, how creative she is and that she also works well off the ball. Vanessa [Fudalla] has already shown that she brings the finishing quality we wanted. She has very good ball control under pressure and finds good solutions. Claudia [Wenger] has played more minutes than most so far, is very eager to learn, ambitious and is improving really well in her build-up play. She's a great fighter without the ball with a great defensive awareness. She covers for her team-mates at the back a lot."

…the U20 players Sana Coskun, Jolina Heltemes, Jana Lindner, Angelie Martens and Amelie Sosnik: "They've slotted in seamlessly, are aware of their role and don't miss any opportunity to show how grateful they are to be here and how much they want to work hard on themselves. They haven't held back and they're enriching our sessions as a result. We don't need to worry about the future of Bayer 04 because we have great players, in terms of their abilities and talent but also personalities."

…the challenges in the next two weeks before the start of the season: "We've worked up a very good base level of fitness already. In the next two weeks, it's about getting the physical and mental freshness required to have dynamism, zip and more penetration in our quick play. We want to  carry through our transitions with high quality. Every player wants to be in the squad for the opener in Munich and is motivated to stake their claim. We'll need one or two more sessions with the ball to get those patterns working automatically. The match against Standard Liè​ge [friendly, Saturday 30 August, 16:00 CEST, 3 x 45 minutes] is really the end of pre-season. The week after that is all about the match against Bayern."