Union begin pre-season in Köpenick
Training starts:
Preparations for the new campaign kicked off on Wednesday morning with the first training session at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Urs Fischer ran the rule over 26 players who will be vying to be part of his matchday squad when competitive football resumes at the end of July.
Oliver Ruhnert, Union’s Director for Professional Football, delivered a short welcome speech to the squad before they headed out in the warm conditions for the first session under the new head coach and both Markus Hoffmann and Sebastian Bönig, the two assistant coaches.
Several new faces emerged from the changing rooms this morning, including the club’s six summer signings — Rafal Gikiewicz, Ken Reichel, Florian Hübner, Manuel Schmiedebach, Joshua Mees and Sebastian Andersson. Christopher Lenz (Holstein Kiel) and Eroll Zejnullahu (Sandhausen) returned from season-long loan spells respectively. Sebastian Polter (Achilies tendon), Fabian Schönheim (knee) and Marc Torrejon (muscle strain) all trained individually.
First-team fitness coach Martin Kruger led the first part of the session to dust off the summer cobwebs before the players broke off into various ball possession drills and high-tempo, small-sided games. Meanwhile, goalkeeper coach Michael Gspurning put new-boy Gikiewicz, Jakob Busk and Lennart Moser through their paces as the three battle it out for control of the main shirt.
The tempo was turned up a notch when the players were split into two teams for an 11-v-11 encounter and after almost two hours on the pitch, Fischer concluded the session with some final words. The boss and his squad will head to Bad Saarow for a short and intensive four-day training camp with a second session planned on Wednesday evening.
Jena to open the season
You can see Urs Fischer’s Union team for the first time on Sunday July 1 at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei as we welcome third-tier outfit Carl Zeiss Jena. The game marks the 50th anniversary since Union beat Jena to win the FDGB-Pokal — the East German Cup. Tickets are still available and the match kicks off at 14:00.
