Die Mannschaft have settled in at the team hotel in Sochi, having spent their first night in Russia. The World-Cup-winners play their first game of the Confederations Cup against Australia on Monday (17:00 CEST). Oliver Bierhoff, who is currently Die Mannschaft’s team coordinator, Julian Brandt, and Joshua Kimmich all speak with DFB.de on their expectations and first impressions of Russia.
OLIVER BIERHOFF ON...
... HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS IN RUSSIA: We’ve received a very warm welcome here. The facilities, such as the training pitch, are in excellent condition. The players are working hard and are very focussed in training, and it’s a first tournament for many of them. You can tell that each and every one of them has something to prove.
... SECURITY: We’re letting our experts on site handle the issue of security. You can feel that we’re well protected, for example when we’re on our way to training. Overall we feel safe and have the utmost of faith in the security forces.
... SANDRO WAGNER: He’s got a fantastic, positive attitude. His attributes like his physicality, poacher-like mentality, and pure will to score goals are characteristics that make him a player that you don’t really see so often in the squad these days. I hope that he can back himself up with a strong tournament.
... THE CONFEDERATIONS CUP’S SIGNIFICANCE: It’s an important tournament for the game which gives us the opportunity to gauge ourselves against other teams. Our highest priority is to make sure our players develop, but of course we’re also motivated to win the tournament. The competition will help benefit the players’ development and be worthwhile for each and every player.
... THE HIERARCHY OF THE TEAM: Of course there’s a hierarchy within the team. Julian Draxler or Shkodran Mustafi are special not only because of the fact that they’ve won the World Cup, but also because they have the necessary personality to play a commanding role on the field. Julian’s body language stands out, whilst Shkodran is already very mature for his age.
... THE ORGANISATIONAL UNDERSTANDING AT THE CONFED CUP: It’s extremely important for us to be able to build on our relationship with the Russian organisers and get to know each other better. We have to develop an understanding for procedures to continue, our journey to training being an example of that. In addition, we’ve gotten a lot of insight into the country – and the importance of that can’t be understated.
JULIAN BRANDT ON...
... HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SOCHI: Not many of us have been here before which makes it all the more interesting for us. The training pitch is in perfect condition and is right next to the hotel. All in all everything’s worked out great, and the ambience suits me.
... DIE MANNSCHAFT’S GOALS: We’re improving with each and every training session. Personally, the game against San Marino was a great experience for me because of my goal. Goals are always nice. It should be clear that we want to score as many goals as possible throughout the tournament.
... THE CONFED CUP AS A PLATFORM FOR THE 2018 WORLD CUP: I look at the tournament as a big chance to make an impression with one eye on the World Cup. In addition, it’s also definitely about the upcoming season in the league, but I’m not thinking about that quite yet. I’m fully focussed on the Confed Cup.
... WORKING WITH MIROSLAV KLOSE: I can learn a few things from Miro. I’m still score way too few goals based on the chances I get – that’s something I need to work on, and that’s something that he can help me with to no end. We’ve already spoken with each other quite a bit over the past few days. I hope that this close relationship continues and pays off at some point during the tournament.
... GERMANY’S STRIKERS: We have two different types of strikers and that’s good for us. Sandro Wagner is physical and very robust, whilst Timo has pace and is dynamic. The manager has a selection dilemma ahead of him, and has to consider whether he wants to play one, the other, or both.
JOSHUA KIMMICH ON...
... THE ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA: We’ve all been pleasantly surprised. The hotel and training facilities are in great condition. We were welcomed by a folklore group, and later saw a few kids at training for whom we signed a few autographs. That was nice.
... THE COMPARISONS BETWEEN HIM AND WORLD-CUP-WINNER PHILIPP LAHM: Philipp has an outstanding career behind him. He’s an absolute legend. You should always look to try and emulate what players like that have done, but overall I want to follow my own path.
... SANDRO WAGNER: Sandro has a lot to offer and makes excellent runs. He demands a lot of the ball and has a physical advantage over most defenders, which helps us a lot when it comes to aerial balls. It’s also good to have another type of striker in the squad in the form of Timo Werner. Something not a lot of people see is how Sandro makes runs which free up his teammates. That makes him even more valuable.
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Die Mannschaft have settled in at the team hotel in Sochi, having spent their first night in Russia. The World-Cup-winners play their first game of the Confederations Cup against Australia on Monday (17:00 CEST). Oliver Bierhoff, who is currently Die Mannschaft’s team coordinator, Julian Brandt, and Joshua Kimmich all speak with DFB.de on their expectations and first impressions of Russia.
OLIVER BIERHOFF ON...
... HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS IN RUSSIA: We’ve received a very warm welcome here. The facilities, such as the training pitch, are in excellent condition. The players are working hard and are very focussed in training, and it’s a first tournament for many of them. You can tell that each and every one of them has something to prove.
... SECURITY: We’re letting our experts on site handle the issue of security. You can feel that we’re well protected, for example when we’re on our way to training. Overall we feel safe and have the utmost of faith in the security forces.
... SANDRO WAGNER: He’s got a fantastic, positive attitude. His attributes like his physicality, poacher-like mentality, and pure will to score goals are characteristics that make him a player that you don’t really see so often in the squad these days. I hope that he can back himself up with a strong tournament.
... THE CONFEDERATIONS CUP’S SIGNIFICANCE: It’s an important tournament for the game which gives us the opportunity to gauge ourselves against other teams. Our highest priority is to make sure our players develop, but of course we’re also motivated to win the tournament. The competition will help benefit the players’ development and be worthwhile for each and every player.
... THE HIERARCHY OF THE TEAM: Of course there’s a hierarchy within the team. Julian Draxler or Shkodran Mustafi are special not only because of the fact that they’ve won the World Cup, but also because they have the necessary personality to play a commanding role on the field. Julian’s body language stands out, whilst Shkodran is already very mature for his age.
... THE ORGANISATIONAL UNDERSTANDING AT THE CONFED CUP: It’s extremely important for us to be able to build on our relationship with the Russian organisers and get to know each other better. We have to develop an understanding for procedures to continue, our journey to training being an example of that. In addition, we’ve gotten a lot of insight into the country – and the importance of that can’t be understated.
JULIAN BRANDT ON...
... HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SOCHI: Not many of us have been here before which makes it all the more interesting for us. The training pitch is in perfect condition and is right next to the hotel. All in all everything’s worked out great, and the ambience suits me.
... DIE MANNSCHAFT’S GOALS: We’re improving with each and every training session. Personally, the game against San Marino was a great experience for me because of my goal. Goals are always nice. It should be clear that we want to score as many goals as possible throughout the tournament.
... THE CONFED CUP AS A PLATFORM FOR THE 2018 WORLD CUP: I look at the tournament as a big chance to make an impression with one eye on the World Cup. In addition, it’s also definitely about the upcoming season in the league, but I’m not thinking about that quite yet. I’m fully focussed on the Confed Cup.
... WORKING WITH MIROSLAV KLOSE: I can learn a few things from Miro. I’m still score way too few goals based on the chances I get – that’s something I need to work on, and that’s something that he can help me with to no end. We’ve already spoken with each other quite a bit over the past few days. I hope that this close relationship continues and pays off at some point during the tournament.
... GERMANY’S STRIKERS: We have two different types of strikers and that’s good for us. Sandro Wagner is physical and very robust, whilst Timo has pace and is dynamic. The manager has a selection dilemma ahead of him, and has to consider whether he wants to play one, the other, or both.
JOSHUA KIMMICH ON...
... THE ADVENTURE IN RUSSIA: We’ve all been pleasantly surprised. The hotel and training facilities are in great condition. We were welcomed by a folklore group, and later saw a few kids at training for whom we signed a few autographs. That was nice.
... THE COMPARISONS BETWEEN HIM AND WORLD-CUP-WINNER PHILIPP LAHM: Philipp has an outstanding career behind him. He’s an absolute legend. You should always look to try and emulate what players like that have done, but overall I want to follow my own path.
... SANDRO WAGNER: Sandro has a lot to offer and makes excellent runs. He demands a lot of the ball and has a physical advantage over most defenders, which helps us a lot when it comes to aerial balls. It’s also good to have another type of striker in the squad in the form of Timo Werner. Something not a lot of people see is how Sandro makes runs which free up his teammates. That makes him even more valuable.
