Andreas Hinkel ahead of the Rückrunde
Andreas Hinkel speaks to RBL | Assistant coach gives an insight into the preparations for the second half of the season
The Red Bulls returned to training on Monday for their first team session of 2022, ahead of the second half of the season.
After training, assistant coach Andreas Hinkel looked ahead to the upcoming week of training and this weekend’s game: the first match of 2022 against FSV Mainz 05 at the Red Bull Arena.
Andreas Hinkel on...
... The winter break:
- "I was with my family and enjoyed the time and relaxed a bit during the holidays and Christmas. However, there were always times in between where we were working and coming together to prepare for the second half of the season."
... The players' training programme during the break:
- "The players were each given an individual programme to complete. The plans were adapted to each player, depending on how much they had played during the first half of the season and how much of a workload they have had so far. The focus was mainly on running and strengthening drills, but also stabilisation and mobility."
... Preparation for the game against Mainz:
- "As the winter break was a short one, there is no need to go deep into the basics. Of course, we like it when all the players are available and we’re trying to reintroduce the ones who are returning now bit-by-bit. When the players who are available to play are there, we can go into detail and prepare for the upcoming game against Mainz."
... The situation with unavailable players:
- "Because not everyone is here, it doesn’t make as much sense to go straight into our 14-day plan that we had in mind for these two weeks without a midweek fixture. We’ve had to make a few adjustments to what we were wanting to convey in terms of our structure and playing philosophy. But that's not a problem; it’s a part of our job. We will now see when we can implement certain things, and we must always be in consultation with our fitness coaches and keep an eye on the players’ workloads, because the most important thing is that the players keep their level of freshness."
