Hannover 96: Coach Leitl is waiting for a squad reduction | NDR.de – Sports
Status: 02.01.2023 21:05
Hannover 96 resumed training on Monday after a 39-day break. At the beginning of the preparations for the second half of the second Bundesliga season, 29 players romped around on the field.
A circumstance that causes mixed feelings for coach Stefan Leitl. On the one hand, the 45-year-old was of course happy that all his players had returned from vacation healthy. The big squad, which also includes two 20-year-old talents Tom Moustier and Thaddäus-Monju Momuluh from the Under-23 team, also gives the coach a bit of a headache.
A “handful of fewer” players would be “ideal”, said Leitl after the session on Monday afternoon in the shadow of the world championship stadium on Maschsee.
Leitl seeks talks with change candidates
The trainer announced that in the coming days he would like to talk to players for whom it “could be more difficult with seasons.” But 96 would not send anyone away, explained Leitl. So it cannot be ruled out that all 29 players will go to the nine-day training camp in Belek (Turkey) next Sunday evening.
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World Championship driver Ondoua with no prospects at 96
Names of change candidates named Leitl not. But with a view to their previous playing times, Sebastian Stolze, Tim Walbrecht and Sebastian Kerk should be among the pros that the coach could suggest a change. It has been clear for weeks that Gaël Ondoua is about to jump at 96. Cameroon’s international, who came up with two cases at the Winter Desert World Cup in Qatar, is dissatisfied with his reserve role with the “Reds”.
And the prospects that the 27-year-old could play a major role as a “six” in the future are poor. “We have Fabian Kunze as a stabilizer there, so it will be difficult for Gael,” explained Leitl.
New additions probably not planned
It is also quite possible that Ondoua will no longer be on the payroll at 96 at the start of the second half of the season on January 28 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern (8.30 p.m., in the live center on NDR.de). Leitl left it open whether Lower Saxony would become active again in the transfer market in the event of probable departures like that of the Cameroonian.
“If there is a player who makes us significantly better, is affordable and wants to go to Hanover, then we will deal with it,” said the coach.
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