“It felt like a new start”

sv98.de: Even though it is already your second season in Darmstadt, it is currently your first winter training camp. How does it feel to be on the pitch with the boys preparing for the second half of the season and not having to work in rehab for a comeback?

Fraser Hornby: That feels very good. Last year I had an operation shortly before the winter training camp and couldn’t travel to Spain, so it’s even nicer to be there this year and to be looking forward to the second half of the season full of anticipation.

sv98.de.: So it’s your first time here in El Saler…

Hornby: The others have all told me that the conditions here are really good. I was looking forward to getting to know everything myself and can only agree with them. And the last few weeks in Germany have been really cold, so it’s nice to be back in warmer climates.

sv98.de: You share your room with Oscar Vilhelmsson. Is there a lot of talk about being a striker there?

Hornby: (laughs) We mostly talk about things outside of football. We quickly got along very well and have now become friends. It’s nice to share the room with someone you like.

sv98.de: Is a friendship like this more difficult when both players are competitors on the pitch?

Hornby: No, that’s part of football after all. He always wishes me the best and it’s the same the other way around.

sv98.de: Let’s look at your season so far: 15 league appearances, 6 goals. How satisfied are you with your first half of the season?

Hornby: Relatively happy. After the difficult previous year, I was initially really happy to be healthy and to be on the pitch. Of course I would have liked more goals, but at least there were a few. I want to continue on this path.

sv98.de: You scored your first goal for Darmstadt at Schalke. Was that also a liberating feeling?

Hornby: Especially as a striker, after a change you want to score the first goal as quickly as possible. It didn’t work for me for a whole season because of the injury. That’s why this goal gave me a very good feeling. It felt a bit like a restart of my time in Darmstadt.

sv98.de: Your brace against Köln must have been really special. Your first goals in the Merck Stadium, a very special evening. Your best lily moment so far?

Hornby: Absolutely. My family was at the stadium, it was a very special moment. They had seen me last year with my injury and at a low point and that evening they were able to see live that my hard work during the injury was now paying off on the pitch.

sv98.de: After games like that, do you think about your own suffering and the amount of work you put in for days like that?

Hornby: Last year was the most difficult of my career. There were really difficult moments, long days working on my fitness. On days like this you realise how worth all the work.

sv98.de: The fans‘ view of you was repeatedly discussed in the media and social networks. You’ve already said that you completely understood their dissatisfaction in the first year. Weren’t there moments when you asked yourself why you were viewed so critically? Ultimately, an objective assessment was very difficult due to your injury.

Hornby: Sometimes these thoughts already exist. But people don’t see what happens off the pitch and behind closed doors. They evaluate the performance on the field. But as football players we have to deal with it. And of course I could understand them all because I was totally frustrated myself. But it now feels as if this view has completely changed and that makes me extremely happy.

sv98.de: Someone who praised you very quickly and trusted you is Florian Kohfeldt. How big is his influence on your performances?

Hornby: Huge. When he came, we had a very good conversation and he gave me the time to regain my old strength. I’m very grateful for that and I’m glad I was able to give him something back in the first half of the season.

sv98.de: He also always highlights the things that are often not valued so highly in a striker. Especially your starting behavior. What exactly does he want to see from you?

Hornby: He wants to see a very high level of energy and a high level of pressing behavior from all players. That’s always been part of my game, so this style suits me well. I also like the system with a striker at my side.

sv98.,de: SV 98 collected 24 points in the first half of the season and is therefore in tenth place in a relatively tight league. How are you going into the second half of the season, what do you have planned for the second half of the series? 

Every single player on this team wants to get better and learn. That’s a very good attitude. This is one of the reasons why we are now on the right track and would like to continue in the second half of the season. We are an ambitious team and have shown that we can beat any opponent in this league. But it’s no use letting your thoughts wander too far ahead. We continue to take it one week at a time and strive to continually improve.

sv98.de: Ambitious and willing to learn could also be referred to as learning a new language. How is your German going?

Hornby: Much better. (laughs) It’s a really difficult language, but I understand a lot now and speaking is even more difficult for me. But at some point we will also be able to conduct an interview entirely in German. What is important is that I now understand almost everything that is discussed in the meetings.

sv98.de: Finally: You’ll still be here in the training camp until Sunday. What do you want to work on as a team so that you can travel to Düsseldorf in the best possible way?

Hornby: Continue to work on our principles and the way we play football. The more often you train something, the more natural it becomes on match day itself. We’ve made a lot of progress in the last few weeks and we want to build on that.