Corona worries at Darmstadt 98: Lieberknecht's cold start with the rump squad

“Lamenting”, says Torsten Lieberknecht, “is not part of my repertoire.” The new “Lilien” head coach would have every reason to do so.

Since his arrival in southern Hesse, his path has been paved with personal surprises to the detriment of Darmstadt.

It peaked on Wednesday when the South Hesse announced a corona outbreak in their own ranks.

With the defenders Patric Pfeiffer and Frank Ronstadt as well as the currently injured winger Braydon Manu (calf bruise) three professionals have become infected.

According to the association, they show no to moderate symptoms.

However, the effects of the quarantine orders are considerable for Lieberknecht's first real working day on the sidelines in the stadium at Böllenfalltor.

Domestic isolation

The coach has to contest his competitive game premiere for Darmstadt with a rump squad filled with youth players. A Herculean task as it appears. Because the health department has ordered domestic isolation for all SVD professionals who have not been vaccinated or recovered. The Darmstadt-based company did not want to disclose how many actors fall into this group. “We have to accept this test, face it and move even closer together as a team. It is now even more important to develop a now-even more mentality and to fight together against all odds, "says Lieberknecht.

From the point of view of SV 98, the home game for the second division season opener against Jahn Regensburg can be kicked off this Saturday (1.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the 2nd Bundesliga and on Sky).

At least the South Hessians do not want to apply for a transfer, as they say they have the required number of 16 deployable players together with U-19 players.

Carsten Wehlmann describes the location of the “lilies” at the beginning of the season as “extremely bitter”.

Optimistically, he adds: “In the coming weeks, the top priority will be to persevere through unity and determination.

Of course, our squad is now badly decimated, but we still believe that we can survive together on the first match day. "

Develop a special sense of togetherness

If you add the long-term injuries Marvin Mehlem, Aaron Seydel, Tim Skarke and Thomas Isherwood and assume that the newly signed Austrian Nemanja Celic still has too much training deficit, the drop-out list in the professional squad should be extremely long. The squad comprises a total of 21 field players with professional football experience.

The topics that have dominated Darmstadt for weeks, such as the management planning in the context of the once again great change in personnel or the challenges in training management, when it was necessary to integrate some convalescents, suddenly faded into the background.

After weeks of preparation for the season, Lieberknecht is in the starting position that the first emergency is not about the content that has been developed, but about pure survival.

Everyone knows that a bad start to the season can develop negative momentum.

On the other hand, a team that is in such distress as the Darmstadt team can develop a special sense of unity.

"I am convinced that we will burn on Saturday," said the 47-year-old football teacher.

Struggle and passion

When the "shock that was once big" (Lieberknecht) was overcome, the Palatinate was quickly back to his verbal core element. Since he started working with the “Lilien”, he has made it clear that an intact sense of community is a priority for him. In the personal emergency, it should also depend on how far Lieberknecht has come in this regard. Because even before the Corona outbreak this week, not everything went according to plan in the preparation for the season.

Due to various injured and ailing players, the staffing level was so thin that the booked training camp in the Black Forest was canceled and a new camp in the Palatinate was moved a little later.

Lieberknecht concluded that you would need a few competitive games to playfully get up to speed.

Until then, the SVD wants to compensate for this with struggle and passion.

There is hardly anything else left in southern Hesse.

4786 spectators allowed

In any case, the new man didn't need a crash course in identifying with the club. When Lieberknecht reports that he already had goose bumps as a guest coach at the Böllenfalltor while playing the Darmstadt club anthem, he not only speaks to officials and fans from the heart, but also appears authentic. Against Regensburg, 4786 spectators can watch the match on the stadium construction site on Nieder-Ramstädter Straße.

"It is also up to them to carry us and to give us the support we need even in difficult phases of the game," said Lieberknecht. The Darmstadt team did not want to say who won the internal competition for the position of the goalkeeper, whether top dog Marcel Schschuhe or challenger Morten Behrens. Because this question could also have become obsolete for the time being due to the corona outbreak.