Grimaldo set for captain duties, Hjulmand keen to give new names “time to adapt”

Here’s what B04 gaffer Kasper Hjulmand had to say to the media today.

In his press conference ahead of their derby with Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday, Bayer Leverkusen’s Kasper Hjulmand spoke about team quality and needing time to adapt.

“We have to remember that this is not only Malik, it’s also players like Eli [Ben Seghir] yesterday, other players like Poku, Claudio [Echeverri]… We have a lot of very, very [high] potential, good young players.

“They just came here, they are playing their first minutes. It takes some time to adapt, and it takes some time to get to know each other. They have great potential. That’s one of the great things about this squad.

“There’s so much potential, there’s so much quality. But you cannot expect it just to be like that from the beginning. We have to nurse it, we have to train and see and give feedback,” he explained.

Robert Andrich, who was appointed club captain at the start of the season, is suspended for the Rhineland derby. Hjulmand made it clear that Alejandro Grimaldo will be skipper on Sunday.

“So I’ve had a meeting with the team council and the captains team. And Grimaldo, who [wore the armband] the last two games as well, will take it against Gladbach too.

“I have to get the feeling of the players, who they are. I know them very well as players, I’ve seen them all, I’ve studied them all, but I also have to get to learn their personalities and how they lead and how they lead together.

And I said, again, for me leadership is not a one-man show, it’s a team effort. […] So we’ll see in the next months. There might be other captains on the pitch, then also Rob or Grimaldo, let’s see. But for Sunday it will be Grimaldo,” he said.

The former Danish international coach also provided a quick update on Nathan Tella, for whom he said there is “hope” that he will be announced fit after tomorrow’s training session.