SVE training camp complete – fundamentals, squad development and clear Bundesliga plans

SV Elversberg clearly do not need grand mountains to prepare for the most important season in the club’s history. Whilst countless Bundesliga clubs traditionally seek out Alpine panoramas over the summer, the promoted team spent 20 to 26 July in the Dutch town of Barneveld, as they did last year. No spectacular scenery or excessive luxury, just short distances, intense work, and cycling to the training venue. This is a style of preparation that fits the club: outwardly down-to-earth, exceptionally ambitious in their daily work.

Manager Vincent Wagner spent a week with his team laying the foundations for their Bundesliga adventure. They worked hard, refined processes, and also focused strongly on establishing a group dynamic off the pitch. For Wagner, the training camp was the first extended opportunity to work almost continuously with his team. Six new players needed to be incorporated, a few roles had to be redistributed, and standards upped even further after their promotion. It quickly became evident that the manager would not be fundamentally altering the club’s path so far, but rather consistently further developing it.

SVE will be sticking to intensity, boldness and an active playing style in the Bundesliga. It became clear to the players during training sessions that these expectations would not just be on paper. If Wagner was unhappy with a period of unfocused training, he made it extremely clear what their future yardstick would be: ‘This is not Kreisliga C! This is the Bundesliga!’ This sums up their new reality rather well. Elversberg earned their place in the top division with exhilarating football, but the club’s very special story and the familiar atmosphere at Kaiserlinde will not help them on the pitch. When play begins, any careless moments will be punished by opponents who will generally have notably higher individual quality to draw on.

Given this, the test match that rounded off their training camp was more than just a standard part of their preparations. Wagner deliberately described it as an endurance test – which the team overcame to secure a 1:0 win.

Nevertheless, the result was just part of the insights that Elversberg gained in Barneveld. There was an interesting change in the midfield. Lukasz Poreba seems to be a fixture, with Felix Keidel repeatedly deployed alongside him in past test matches and training sessions. The 23‑year‑old spent most of last season playing as a right back but knows the central position from earlier years. ‘The manager spoke to me at the beginning of our preparations and said he wanted to see me in the central midfield. I’ve played there for years, it’s nothing new to me’, Keidel explained.

The manager spoke to me at the beginning of our preparations and said he wanted to see me in the central midfield. I’ve played there for years, it’s nothing new to me.

Felix Keidel

Wagner sees qualities in him that could be valuable against strong Bundesliga opponents. Keidel offers speed, strong tackling and huge stamina. ‘Felix is fast, a good tackler, and very persistent. He just does it well’, the manager said. Amara Condé and Frederik Schmahl have therefore gained another competitor in the centre. At the same time, squad planning in this area is far from complete. SVE are planning to sign another player for the central midfield.

Felix is fast, a good tackler, and very persistent. He just does it well.

Vincent Wagner

There is also need for action on the defensive side, where the surprise departure of Carlo Sickinger has left a gap. The longstanding Elversberg player approached the club with a request to leave and departed SVE shortly after the test match against Viktoria Köln. The timing came as a surprise, even to the training camp. Although Sickinger had recently been primarily used as a substitute, his versatility made him a valuable alternative for numerous positions.

FCK wanted to extend his contract and made several attempts to keep Sirch. However, the player made it clear early on that he wanted to take the next step in his career. ‘There were multiple discussions, but I made it openly and honestly known that I wanted to take the next step’, he said. Various clubs were interested in signing him, including other Bundesliga teams. Sirch took his time making the decision. He worked with a personal trainer and completed various gym sessions to stay fit over the summer break. His only indulgence was a two-week holiday in Crete – otherwise he was regularly out training on his local football pitches and watching the World Cup in the USA.

Despite being without a contract, the player said that he was not nervous. He knew that opportunities would arrive. He did not just want any move, but rather an opportunity to play in the Bundesliga for the first time. ‘I am a German boy. My dream has always been to play in Germany’s top division. Perhaps I could also have gone abroad, but that has always been my aim.’ And he has achieved this by moving to Elversberg.

I am a German boy. My dream has always been to play in Germany’s top division. Perhaps I could also have gone abroad, but that has always been my aim.

Luca Sirch

What role Sirch might take still remains to be seen. He was trialled both in the central defence and as a right back during his first few days of training. He played at right back against Nijmegen. There is another established player available for that position in Jan Gyamerah, whilst Keidel is currently being tried out in the central midfield. This means that Sirch will need to earn his time on the pitch. He has no grand aspirations: ‘I play where the manager puts me – and I’m happy to do so.’

This attitude fits Elversberg’s approach. The club is not looking for players who personify a set position in the starting eleven. What they need are professionals that can take on multiple roles, fit within a well-functioning group and take responsibility. Sirch already knows Lukas Petkov from their time playing together in Augsburg and says that he has been made to feel welcome. His first impressions were very positive: ‘The lads are really decent. I know Lukas Petkov from Augsburg. I feel at home here.’

The fact that this integration has gone so well is also down to the promoted team’s stable core. ‘If there are twenty lads who know exactly what’s happening, that naturally makes it easier to integrate new arrivals’, Wagner explained. New players do not have to learn an entirely new system alongside the entire team. They are stepping into a group where most of the processes are familiar and established players can lead by example. An environment like this can be helpful for young talent.

Of course, the pressure of competition will show how resilient this foundation really is. Harmony alone will not stop the team conceding goals, nor will it win any Bundesliga matches. Almost all of the team’s opponents will have better individual lineups, and countless clubs have financial resources that Elversberg cannot and are not trying to compete with. However, a team whose players trust each other and are prepared to withstand difficult periods together has at least one vital factor that is required to start pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved.

SVE is deliberately avoiding costly names with many years of Bundesliga experience. ‘Elversberg will not be signing any experienced Bundesliga players this season. One or two would definitely be financially feasible, but that’s not our approach. We will continue to be financially responsible’, Wagner said. This means that the promoted team are staying true to their model. Rather than spending the majority of their new income on experienced first-division pros, the club is instead drawing on talent ripe for development, flexible players like Sirch, and the core of the team that achieved promotion in the first place.

This approach has considerable risks. Young players will make mistakes and some of the mechanisms that operated reliably in the second division could hit their limits against the strongest teams in the country. Elversberg will need to learn how to process defeats without losing their confidence. Wagner understands this danger. Rather than downplaying things, he was remarkably open about expectations:

We will give it our all, but we will take a battering more often than not – but there’s no alternative.

After returning from the Netherlands, the players have a few free days before the next stage of their preparations begins. Two more challenging test match opponents await in the form of Racing Straßburg and promoted Spanish first-division team RCD Mallorca. SVE are planning to sign two or three more players before then. Another central defender is very likely, as well as additions to the central midfield.

This means that Elversberg are not yet a finished Bundesliga lineup. However, the training camp showed that the promoted team already have a solid structure. Their tried-and-tested processes are working, young attacking players are providing pace and ideas, and new additions are quickly gaining a place in a well-oiled group. This is paired with a manager that is seeking to preserve the club’s very special culture without underplaying the requirements of the new division.

On some weekends, Elversberg will find out just how far off the national elite they really are. However, the club are not worried about this challenge or veering wildly off the path that has taken them this far. The team that climbed onto bicycles in Barneveld is one that knows exactly what it can do and what it stands for. Now they are embarking on the greatest adventure in their history.

We wish the team successful, injury-free ongoing preparations and are looking forwards to the next stage of their Bundesliga journey.