Jones: "We want to become European champions"

New head coach Steffi Jones appeared to be happy, relaxed and easy going in the DFB headquarters in Frankfurt ahead of her first matches in charge of the national women’s team against Russia (Friday, 18:00 CEST) and Hungary (Tuesday, 16:00 CEST). The 43-year old had a lot to say about the new job, high expectations after winning the Olympic Games and the changes within the team…

Steffi Jones on…

…the first few days as manager: We all had a lot of fun and I was really excited to get going. I started by having a lot of one-on-one conversations with the players to explain my point of view, particularly in relation to the upcoming European Championship. This team has good prospects and I am planning for the long term. I also wanted to hear what the players thought in our conversations, how they evaluate themselves and what position they see themselves playing.

…her new coaching staff: My new assistant managers Verena Hagedorn and Markus Högner planned and prepared the first few training sessions. Markus particularly concentrated on the match in Russia whilst Verena turned her focus to the match against Hungary. I could then get an initial impression of how they do things. I don’t want to fix set roles. We will watch every match and will also get together beforehand. Verena will sit in the stands during the matches to give a different perspective to our analysis of the match.

…her expectations at the start: We want to win both matches, that’s our goal. Everyone is expecting a lot from the team after the Olympics and what they have achieved over the last few years. But we want to live up to these expectations. We want to win the European Championship and we work hard in order to get there.

…Feelings ahead of her debut: Of course it will be a special match, and one that I will go into with humility. As a player I was very nervous for my debut and had goosebumps everywhere. I will definitely get them again before this one.

…The captaincy: We will choose the team council in October and then we will announce the captain. Anja Mittag will lead the team out for the matches against Russia and Hungary. She is really happy to be here with us and she will captain the side in these first two fixtures because of her vast experience.

…New centre-backs: Babett Peter is very experienced and has also been performing well recently. Josephine Henning has also already played in a lot of international matches. Both will get their chance and we have full confidence in them. Of course I am also planning to use younger players at centre-back that are versatile.

…The young players: I had to name a 36-player squad in March so it’s tough having to leave people out. We have a limited size squad and unfortunately I can’t fall back on every U20s player that would be available. The squad has a fundamentally strong balance of experienced and younger players. This also allows us to give enough game time to the team’s newest members and for them to gradually integrate. Players who are currently playing at the U20s World Cup may for example be invited to play in the Algarve Cup.

…debutant Hasret Kayikci: She is a street footballer. I especially like her ability to get on with things in tough conditions. She is very good at winning the ball back and her intricate play creates problems for opposition defences. Especially against teams who sit deep we can use Hasret’s technical skills.

...the rested players: We have already seen that six or seven players have completed all 90 minutes of their games. That’s why we have come up with the solution to rest a few players in coordination with their clubs. With two centre backs in Saskia Bartusiak and Annike Khran retiring, it is obvious that we need to test different players in these positions. Anja Mittag, who I also wanted to rest is with the squad due to Lina Magull and Mandy Islacker pulling out with injury.

...a new system: We want players who can be deployed in a variety of positions. I have spoken about this with some of our younger players in private conversations. We don’t want to be fixed to one particular system. We can play with three at the back if the opposition just plays with one striker. We want to learn how to play in a variety of systems, to find the spaces and impose ourselves in attack. We can therefore change it up from 4-4-2 to 3-4-3 or 4-3-3.

...her playing style: We want to be unpredictable as a side, which is why we need to be adept at switching systems. In the last two or three years I have gained a lot of experience and seen many new things. We want to become clinical in our attacking play and in games against deep-lying defences make good use of the tight spaces. This is what my coaching staff and I will be working on. It doesn’t really matter what system we play, we just want to dominate games whatever the starting eleven.