During his summer break, Stark switched off from football by going home to Franconia and spending time with family and friends. “It’s a very important time for me and it does me a lot of good,” explained Werder’s number 4, who has led the way for the Green-Whites during this pre-season period. “I’m really pleased with how it’s gone so far, but I’m also aware that I need to be at the right level of fitness to put in performances worthy of the Bundesliga,” commented Stark. The main focus of the Green-Whites at the moment is to take away the lessons of the last few weeks and to work on key parts of their game. “So far, it’s been a good pre-season. Of course, not all the friendlies have gone how we’d have liked them to,” added Stark, “but we need tests like these to gain clarity on the parts of our game that need improving.”
The centre-back will go into next season as one of SVW’s most experienced players and will likely reach another milestone in his career. “If someone had told me at the start of my career that at some point, I would reach 250 Bundesliga appearances, I’d have taken that,” said Stark. He’s come close to the milestone despite Werder being only the third side that he has played for. “Personally, I feel comfortable when I’ve known people for a long time, so I tell myself that I’d rather stay somewhere longer and try and build something rather than keep changing clubs. I think I proved in my first season here that I’m very happy to be at SVW.”
