After the last-gasp victory in Dortmund, SV Werder will face Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday (15:30 CEST). Talking to WERDER-STROM on Facebook, Niclas Füllkrug looked back on both games, the start of the season for the Green-Whites and the special mood of the fans that helps him not only on the pitch, but in his day to day life too. "You can see that Werder has a great influence on the mood of the people here. It gives us a huge boost," Werder's striker revealed.
WERDER.DE have summarised Füllkrug's answers:
... the victory in Dortmund: "I've been part of some special comebacks before, but this was a really convincing performance with a late, well-deserved victory. It’s exactly what we needed. We’ve got players who can win games off the bench. We didn't have many goal scorers last season, Duckschi and I scored a lot. This year, I feel like that's our strength that we're very unpredictable in terms of who gets on the score sheet. If there’s too much pressure on our strikers, we’ve got midfielders who can contribute, which is very important for us. The boys did a top job in that respect. I don't think the players on the pitch who had already played 90 minutes could have done that, so that’s when we needed the help from the bench."
... the excitement of the fans: "On the one hand, maybe it’s still a bit of a hangover from getting promoted, but on the other hand, you can really feel it in the city. Whether I’m going shopping, taking my little girl to the playground or just taking a stroll through the neighbourhood, I get spoken to by people who know me and strangers alike, telling me that they’re proud to be a Werder fan and that their city is back on the map. That they think it's great and are very grateful for it, so you can really see again that Werder has a huge influence on the mood of the people here. I hope, of course, that we can keep this up. It really gives us strength, and every home fixture is like a party. That is what gives you that extra energy to go out and score another goal, or defend that little bit harder."
... the start of the season: "I am completely satisfied with the five points. It could have been more, but we are in a different division now. Against Wolfsburg we didn’t even get two real chances, but still scored two goals. The quality of individuals is better. But if you let a player shoot from 20 yards out, there’s a good chance it goes in. We have to be more alert at the back and defend more aggressively. It has to be said: we can't score three goals in every game to win. We’ve conceded twice in every game so far, which is too much.”
... scoring this season: "It's not important how many goals I score. What's important is how many goals we score as a team. With seven goals from three games, we are in good stead and seeing as we’re a promoted team, I don’t think happens very often. So in that sense, I’m satisfied. It’s important that our forward line does the job. It also depends on the opponent, and who is and isn’t in a position to score. I was able to score twice which is great. But often the central midfielders get free or the other striker can push forward, and I sit a little deeper. The main thing is that we score goals as a unit. I would be happy if I get another one soon, but I think goals and assists are equally important. It’s a sign of the quality we have that we can put in some serious great passes; your teammate simply has to score. If we keep playing positively in attack as a team, there’s a goal on the cards for everyone in the squad.”
… Eintracht Frankfurt: "The first thing that springs to mind is their system of five at the back. But I hope that they think the same about us. Their team looks a bit different because they have lost a typical player for a team playing five at the back in Kostic, who was a massively important player for them. Also, they played with four at the back last game. They always have had players that compete really well. They have always been a difficult opponent and have got stronger as a team in terms of the quality of the squad in recent years. I really don’t know what lies ahead of me, but I’m pretty relaxed about it. I think that I have managed to develop as a player over the last few years and have high fitness levels. I would be happy if we put in a good performance and get a win.”
… the captain: “Marco is the captain, which is really good. He will definitely do the job really well. It is really just important that we bring our A-game. We are playing so well and are in such a good vein of form. On the pitch, you don’t realise whose captain and that’s completely fine. At the end of the day, it is about everyone doing their job well and if that is the case then we don’t need to talk too much. Being captain or having a leadership position is not really about talking more, but just about leading the way with your performance and taking other players with you. That’s the most important thing.”
… his return from injury: “For a few moment you have self-pity and think that it had to be you that is injured again, how terrible. But personally I have a pretty big interest in doing strength training and that has always distracted me from the situation. At the same time I always ask myself: What else can I do. Give up? At 28 I don’t want to stop playing football, I love it too much. I have to do the rehab to be healthy in later life, so I don’t really have another option anyway. What should I do? Just lie on the floor? That’s no good. So, I have always worked hard to get back in shape.”
… the end of his career: “I would like to keep on playing for a long time, I’m not talking about two or three years. I think that my career itself will determine how long I play. Whatever happens, I want to play for a non-league team. You have to play at the right level, so you slowly work your way down the leagues. My home team TuS Ricklingen got promoted last year, and I still have a good connection with them. So it is definitely a goal of mine to play non-league football again at some point.”
