SVE ready for next challenge

After an away win in Fürth, SV Elversberg are facing their next difficult challenge: second-placed league team Holstein Kiel are coming to the URSAPHARM arena.

With a crucial away win under their belt, this year SVE are working with huge focus – because they are facing a very awkward opponent in Kiel. Thanks to a 1:0 win over Karlsruher SC last weekend, the Kiel team have established a buffer above the teams chasing them in the league. ‘I always quickly forget our last game, and that is the same today’, Horst Steffen noted: ‘The boys were focused in training, and that is also how we will approach this game against Kiel. We can expect a tough task on Saturday.’

Kiel’s play is consistent and always awkward to counter. They do not necessarily always follow a set pattern, often play in different areas, and will definitely pose problems for SVE: ‘Kiel have used a wide variety of systems and lineups this season. What remains consistent is their high level of intensity, their willingness to run, their pressing and their counter-pressing. All of this will demand a lot from our boys. Their opponents can adapt quickly and are constantly playing in new spaces, so we have to work very precisely and be very alert – including outside of the game, to find the right focus points for coaching. There is a reason why Kiel have so many points. They have earned them with their performance and their players’, Steffen explained at the press conference before the game. One pleasing point: SV Elversberg can approach this game without stress thanks to their comfortable position in the league. And that means that anything is possible.