“I really like playing on Friday evenings”

I’m looking forward to a duel under floodlights with one of the biggest traditional clubs in Germany. I really like playing on Friday evenings. The team likes it too. That’s why we’re all looking forward to it.

Nürnberg is a very attacking and strong team. They move around a lot and don’t play in fixed positions much, but rather move out of the rooms. Therefore, they are difficult to grasp and it is difficult to create a classic pressing against them. They also score a lot of goals and have high quality offensively.

As before almost every game in this league: it is possible for both teams to win the game. It will depend a lot on your performance and form on the day. I don’t see a clear favourite. For us it will be important to play a game again after the winter break in which all phases of the game fit together. In Düsseldorf we had a phase game. Our issue against Paderborn was creating scoring chances, which we didn’t do with the quality we wanted. However, we defended very well during the game. That’s why it’s important that we get all phases of the game together againstNürnberg. Then I see good opportunities to win the game.

Before every game, I prepare the team with maximum enthusiasm, maximum focus and maximum expectations of the team to show their best possible performance and win a game. Before my first game against Braunschweig I didn’t look at the table – and now before Nürnberg I’m not doing it either. All I care about is that we focus on our performance and what we want. And that’s always winning a game.

We have very specific ideas for each opponent, but so far this has rarely translated into personnel changes. This is the first time we’ve had two games in a row in which we weren’t satisfied with our own expectations of our performance. The boys who played in the starting line-up for long stretches have earned the trust. Nevertheless, every week we think carefully about what suits the opponent in order to be able to push our game idea through. This can be a formation, a change in personnel or a very basic tactical orientation.

We often failed against Paderborn because of the little moments – receiving the ball, making one or two contacts, going towards the chain or playing the deep ball. However, I see progress in our occupation of space. We are further ahead than, for example, in the games in which we scored five goals. Now we have to take the next step on this basis. The topic is the individual decisions, but also the necessity of making them without being hectic. Getting into the space is rarely a problem. But we are not as clear in our decisions as we want to be. The problem is not exclusive to us: Paderborn deserved to win, for us it was a deserved defeat. Nevertheless, they didn’t create a clear scoring opportunity against us. Our job now is to find solutions. Measured against our own standards, we want to be even more precise.

I have not yet had personal contact with Miroslav Klose. He is one of the most outstanding players to ever play for Werder. As a player, I really enjoyed watching him play football – not just in Bremen, but especially in the national team. He is one of the greatest personalities we have in German football. I am therefore very much looking forward to meeting him in person on Friday.

Paderborn was able to run eight kilometers more than us because they gave us the ball and therefore had to run more. We had just over 60 percent possession of the ball. This means that the opposing team automatically runs more of the total distance. But what is important to me: In the intensive parameters such as intensive runs or sprints, we were on a par with Paderborn. Overall, our 118 total kilometers were absolutely fine.