What makes a good tackle or a good tackle?
This is pure intuition for me. I am a player who has a feeling for the right moment. Basically, my strength is to look for the running duel and run the balls. This is of course the safer method because as a central defender you are often the last woman standing and a tackle is associated with risk. The statistics show that I carefully consider when a straddle is appropriate and when it is not.
23 of 23 of their tackles were successful – that’s the best in the Bundesliga. What can a successful tackle achieve?
It is always just the exit solution, the last chance to get the ball. If the opponent seems to have already gotten past you, this can surprise them. It’s a nice feeling when you can save a difficult situation. Some people say that if defenders go down, they must have done something wrong beforehand. I see it differently because it always depends on the situation. I’d rather get out of the way rather than risk conceding a goal. Especially since it is also a method of signaling to the opponent: I am there, we as a team are there – especially when you are not doing so well in the game.
This Wednesday (9 p.m. on DAZN) Eintracht will play in the Champions League at Benfica Lisbon, the group opponent that they have to leave behind in order to make it to the quarter-finals, right?
There are definitely two key duels against Benfica this week and next. Our aim is to get four points plus from the two games. Then we are fully on target and have a great starting position for the winter break.
Is the Champions League still a big adventure for the SGE or is it slowly becoming a bit routine?
We are gaining a lot of experience this season. But it never stops being beautiful. We are passionate about this competition, it gives us an incredible amount – you can see that in the entire team. There are so many things that are out of the ordinary that come into play. Just thinking about the anthem: If I listened to it on a continuous loop, I would also have goosebumps on a continuous loop. On this stage, other feelings arise that are difficult to describe. Very special compared to everyday life in the Bundesliga, which is no less valuable. We can’t get enough of it and would like to continue writing this story of our first real Champions League season for a long, long time.
Since the summer, Eintracht has already defeated Juventus Turin, scored points in Munich, stood up to Barcelona and recently dominated league rivals Hoffenheim. How do you specifically determine the further development of the team?
The strongest indicator is that I couldn’t currently say what our greatest strength as a team is. I feel like we’re gaining a new one every game. We are very compact at the back, allowing little to nothing; our front row is great at the start and also ice cold at the finish; We are very creative in our offensive game and have many different goal scorers. The fact that we are on target in all three competitions also shows that we can cope well with the double burden that only Bayern Munich and we have in the Bundesliga. In short: We’re not doing much wrong right now.
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The multiple load is completely new for almost all players. How does this affect you?
I feel surprisingly good. In a functioning team, this freshness also takes place in the mind. I just know that even if our legs can no longer walk, our hearts will carry us as far as we need to. Especially in the Champions League.
