FC St. Pauli

...how he’s feeling ahead of the first matchday: „I’m going into it feeling good. We feel that pre-season went well and that certain moves and interplays are now well practised. In the cup game we had one or two difficulties. It was a different sort of team that we were up against than we’ll encounter in the Bundesliga. The challenges then will be different. We’re focussing above all on what we’ve practised and studied.“

…his personal return to the Bundesliga: „Of course, it’s something that both I as an individual player and we as the team have worked towards. I’m personally looking forward to seeing one or two players from my time in the Bundesliga again. Also to playing at the Weserstadion again, where I’ve not had the opportunity to play a competitive game since by time in Bremen. All in all, there are quite a few interesting games awaiting us.“

…pre-season: „Results-wise it wasn’t perfect. But the process was good, especially at the training camp with the final game against Lyon. There was a clear improvement there compared to the match against Fürth. Against Norwich and Atalanta we were much more efficient. There’s a good trend you can see there, including under the new coach. We’ve therefore got a good feeling.“

…head coach Alexander Blessin: „He’s a very open guy. As a person he’s great and he talks a lot to the players. He can also be loud at times on the training pitch and, of course, he pushes us hard. That comes naturally from his system. He wants a high press, and for that you need pushing and a certain loudness. We like that, and we’re also used to it. The defensive approach in particular is not that far off how we played last year.“

…the new system of play: „It’s clearly a bit of a switch of system, but we’ve not discarded the old system completely. We’re still able to react during the game and to keep the ball moving between us. We’re still good at that. The new system can also work very well in the Bundesliga. Now it’s about improving the details so that every player understands the system, the way we’ve done it for the last year and a half. We went through a process there and kept refining things.“

…the Bundesliga première with FC St. Pauli: „It’s an incredible feeling. I’m looking forward to it enormously, but there’s naturally also a slight feeling of caution. You can’t yet properly assess where we’re at or how the opposition are going to be. We need to find that out over the first few games. In essence, I’m glad that Bundesliga sides will be coming to the Millerntor, that we’ll be able to test ourselves against the best and that we’ll have a few nice away trips. To be playing for St. Pauli in the Bundesliga - I’m more than delighted. I don’t think there’s much pressure on us. As a club we worked hard to be in that position through the promotion. And we’re thrilled that the first game is at home!“

Photos: FC St. Pauli / Witters