Schneider: Why should the Gibraltar game be special for me?
DFB.de: It's the team you recorded your first victory against as Germany's assistant coach.
Schneider: That's right. Plenty of discussions going on prior to that game. (laughs). But it was only the third game in which I was involved. Basically, every international game is special. For myself and for everyone else who is allowed to partake at this level. You familiarize yourself with the situation a little more after each one – but there is never a loss of uniqueness.
DFB.de: "Die Mannschaft" won that game 4-0 but struggled for long spells of the match. What do you expect from tonight's encounter?
Schneider: We have to and will win the game – there is no question about that. But we also know that Gibraltar can defend with organisation. For us that means that we will have to invest a lot and we are ready for that. Gibraltar will sit deep and try to feature a compact defence. We have to move the ball around quickly and occupy the free space. We have recently not been rewarding ourselves for our good attacking moves – we plan to change that today.
DFB.de: For you, this game will mark the end of your first season as part of the national teams' coaching staff. What is your verdict so far?
Schneider: Everyone knows about the results that we have recorded and that we would've liked to secure more points from these matches. But to a certain extent I think it's normal for a team to struggle a bit in the year after the World Cup was won. Experiencing this enormous effort and success is a big mental strain. Apart from that I can only say that everything has been outstanding. Working with Jogi, Andi and Oliver couldn’t be any better. We are a real strong team and fortunately we don't always agree with one another, which helps us move forward. Working for the national team is a lot of fun, with the players just as much as with the DFB officials and caretakers. I was received extremely well by everyone. I felt comfortable the minute I got here – it was a great and special year for me.
Matchday news from the World Champions: Assistant manager Thomas Schneider spoke with DFB.de just hours before their European Championship qualifier with Gibraltar in Faro (20:45 CEST).
DFB.de: Mr. Schneider, what is going on within the team? Everything going well in Faro?
Thomas Schneider: Well, that's an original start to a conversation.
DFB.de: Thank you.
Schneider: To answer your question: Everything is fine. There were no issues in our final training session, no injuries. The keepers are also all fine, which means that we won't need to call up Kevin Trapp as a replacement. All players are fit and motivated. They know what's at stake and no one in the squad would underestimate Gibraltar. We will approach this game in a very serious manner.
DFB.de: Did the defeat against the United States have an impact on the atmosphere in the team?
Schneider: Of course, we would’ve liked to win the game and we were disappointed when we didn’t. We analysed the match and know what mistakes we made. But we were also able to register a lot of positive aspects in our game against the United States. Our first half performance was good, we were constantly on the move and played fast and direct football. A lot of our younger players also managed a convincing display, like Patrick Herrmann and Jonas Hector. It's just like I stated: We wanted to win the game, but it didn’t work out. The game against the United States was designed to get the team into a rhythm for the match against Gibraltar and that did work.
DFB.de: To what extent is the game against Gibraltar a special match for you?
Schneider: Why should the Gibraltar game be special for me?
DFB.de: It's the team you recorded your first victory against as Germany's assistant coach.
Schneider: That's right. Plenty of discussions going on prior to that game. (laughs). But it was only the third game in which I was involved. Basically, every international game is special. For myself and for everyone else who is allowed to partake at this level. You familiarize yourself with the situation a little more after each one – but there is never a loss of uniqueness.
DFB.de: "Die Mannschaft" won that game 4-0 but struggled for long spells of the match. What do you expect from tonight's encounter?
Schneider: We have to and will win the game – there is no question about that. But we also know that Gibraltar can defend with organisation. For us that means that we will have to invest a lot and we are ready for that. Gibraltar will sit deep and try to feature a compact defence. We have to move the ball around quickly and occupy the free space. We have recently not been rewarding ourselves for our good attacking moves – we plan to change that today.
DFB.de: For you, this game will mark the end of your first season as part of the national teams' coaching staff. What is your verdict so far?
Schneider: Everyone knows about the results that we have recorded and that we would've liked to secure more points from these matches. But to a certain extent I think it's normal for a team to struggle a bit in the year after the World Cup was won. Experiencing this enormous effort and success is a big mental strain. Apart from that I can only say that everything has been outstanding. Working with Jogi, Andi and Oliver couldn’t be any better. We are a real strong team and fortunately we don't always agree with one another, which helps us move forward. Working for the national team is a lot of fun, with the players just as much as with the DFB officials and caretakers. I was received extremely well by everyone. I felt comfortable the minute I got here – it was a great and special year for me.
