by Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, PSV & Basel’s women’s teams kicked up plenty of action on Sunday in the first set of matches in the VisitMalta Women’s Trophy, which will conclude today with another double-header. Coaches Stephan Lerch, Roeland ten Berge, Eva-Maria Virsinger and Omar Adlani praised the impact of the winter camp and highlighted the relevance of the tournament on their season and long-term objectives. PSV’s Sisca Folkertsma and Hoffenheim’s Valesca Ampoorter gave their view from the pitch.
Update 14th January 12:45 pm – Match between VfL Wolfsburg & FC Basel has been relocated to the National Football Centre Pitch 2 and will begin at 14:30.
Thumbs Up On The Facilities For Preparation
The VisitMalta Women’s Trophy kicked off on Sunday in overcast conditions, but the coaches of VfL Wolfsburg, TSG 1989 Hoffenheim, PSV Women and FC Basel were unanimous in welcoming the conditions in compared to snow-battling Europe.
Having already had a similar winter camp in Malta, PSV’s coach Roeland ten Berge welcomed the return, “The accommodation and training facilities are good and this is the most important for us because our first objective is to train well to return to the league.”
The matches for the tournament are all to be played on the grass surfaces of the Malta Football Association’s (MFA) recently inaugurated National Football Centre and the Hibernians’ club stadium, the Tony Bezzina Stadium. Neither venues are used for the women’s domestic league in Malta at this stage, however the two venues have hosted some international fixtures in the women’s game.
He continued, “However, secondly, we want to get match practice against strong opposition and the tournament allows us to do that. Two years ago we played against Manchester United Women, who were a good opponent. This year we play Wolfsburg & Hoffenheim, who are both very good opponents for us given that we played against Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Europa League and this is what we need right now.”
He also nodded to the impact of more games on rotation in the team for these friendlies given the fixture schedule coming up, “This tournament gives us more games so we needed to have more players available since we return to the league next week, but I think the other teams also have to rotate, so this gives us the ability to meet strong opponents and utilise our squad.”
Facing Different Opposition In View Of Long-Term Objectives
The tournament brings into it teams from Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Naturally, it is a good opportunity to gauge not just only the team but also the level of the game across the three nations as reflected by these three clubs.
Questioned about whether facing teams from the Netherlands & Switzerland is a good test specifically because of their style of play or if it also has to do with the level of their domestic leagues, Wolfsburg’s Stephan Lerch replied, “I would say both. The Dutch teams have a very special kind of formation and playing style, and it’s the same for other countries. So, it’s good for us to face different styles and challenge ourselves to find solutions against them. However, for us it is also important to face strong teams to prepare for our tasks for the future. Both PSV & Basel have good individual quality and good structures, so this is a good test for us.”
Hoffenheim’s Eva-Maria Virsinger was of a similar frame of mind. She highlighted the importance of being forced to solve different problems when meeting alternative teams to those in the league and it’s positive impact on improvement.
Basel’s Omar Adlani underscored the impact of these matches on the long-term aims of the club, “We want to play Champions League football. So, playing against these types of opponents is exactly what we need, both in terms of level but also to face different football styles.”
In view of the impact of big tournaments, Basel’s Omar Adlani was positive about the impact of the UEFA Women’s EURO competition held in the country last summer on the overall women’s game in Switzerland, “I think personally I can only speak about the after-effects since I was not really in the picture before in Switzerland. However, from what I hear I would say that there’s a lot more interest and motivation, as well as investment, in women’s football to make the league better, the players better, everything better.”
“So, I think it’s positive that the tournament has motivated players to push themselves to make it into a top level team, but also as clubs we are looking to make the Swiss league a top league in the future,” he finished.
Views From First Matches
PSV’s Roeland ten Berge discussed the balance in facing Wolfsburg, with the latter emerging victorious by 2 – 0, despite chances at both ends.
He said, “I think we played a very good first half where we had a lot of our usual starting team, which allowed us to consider how to play the second half of the competition. In the second half we had a lot of younger players with a few of our most experienced. I think in the first half we had a strong twenty minutes where we pressed well and had some good chances with deeper runs.”
Having had good opportunities for goals against Wolfsburg, ten Berge was questioned whether that sharp nature in front of goal would be something to work on given the tight battle with Ajax & Twente. However, ten Berge pointed in a different direction, “I think we had more problems in building from the back because we missed a few defenders. Now, with acquisition of Janice Cayman you can see we are more confident and I think this can be the medicine to create more chances.”
Sisca Folkerstma was one of those deployed in the first half and was of a similar mindset of PSV’s start, “I think we started well in the first half. I think we were stronger early on, but then they grew and we needed to defend a bit more. However, I think speaking from the minutes I was on the pitch, it was a good match and one which we can learn a lot from. Games like this force us to move faster and think faster, so this will push us to become better as a team and will help us when we go back to the league in the Netherlands.”
Wolfsburg’s Stephan Lerch remarked, “I’m happy we came away with the win in our first match but this is not the most important thing. My aim in this match is to look at every player and to try some new things. I think we had some good chances and took a few, but also PSV had some great chances. I’m happy with our performance and controlled the game, it was a good test.”
Meanwhile, Hoffenheim had the upper hand in the other match, facing Basel. The Swiss side is led by Omar Adlani who gave insight into his preparation of the match, “We were focused on ourselves and try to improve technical things and also work on our fitness. Physically there’s a difference to consider given that they have a league match next weekend whereas we are six weeks away from our next match. So I think you could see this difference in the stages that we are in within the pre-season.”
“However, overall I’m happy that we faced a top opponent. We came here looking for competitive matches and this is what we got today.”
Meanwhile, it was a first green checkmark for Eva-Maria Virsinger in her new role as coach of TSG Hoffenheim, having just taken up the post of head-coach after leaving her post as assistant coach of Stephan Lerch with Wolfsburg.
The young coach welcomed the performance, “I think we created a lot of chances. The ambition is to use the chances to score more goals, but we also did well with pressing. There was good intensity today and this is what we will build on.”
As a first-time head coach in the Bundesliga, Eva-Maria Virsinger was asked for what she is most looking to bring to the team as a former player and also considering the experience gained as an assitant coach. She replied, “I think from my experience it’s important to have a good communication with players and I’m a very communicative person. I would say that we want to work in details. So, we have clear targets and we want to improve everyday.
She seems to also have an enthusiastic set of players. Valesca Ampoorter was elated with the opportunity to face a different side and by their win against Basel, “I think it’s nice to play a team from another country because it challenges us in a different way. I think the we had a good result today was a good one.”
The side showed high intensity which is something that the Belgian underscored is a team-DNA that she relishes, “I think we are a team that wants to put high pressure and win the ball back as quickly as possible. From there on, the aim is to bring in the rest of the team, have good cohesion and use that to score goals. From that perspective, I think it was perfect today.”
The tournament will conclude today with a match between Hoffenheim and PSV at the National Football Centre at 11 am, followed by the final match between Wolfsburg and Basel at 3 pm at the Tony Bezzina Stadium.
Lead Image: Brandon Bonett
Stay up to date by following The Sporting Fan on social media: Instagram ~ Facebook ~ X
