The Germany U21 national team can round off a perfect qualification campaign for the 2017 European Championships with a win against Russia on Friday (18:00 CEST). The U21s are currently working on the final touches in Bad Gögging for the match in Ingolstadt on Friday.
A player who wants to achieve this goal is Maximilian Arnold. The VfL Wolfsburg midfielder will captain the team in the upcoming qualifiers just like he did in the last two matches. The 22-year old spoke to DFB.de in an interview about his role as captain, the match against Russia and the atmosphere in the team.
DFB.de: Maximilian Arnold, you have been training for three days now. How is the fine tuning coming along before the match on Friday against Russia?
Maximilian Arnold: We are preparing for the match meticulously like we always do with the U21s. We’re working on exercises and are analyzing strengths and weaknesses of our opponent.
DFB.de: And what are Russia’s strengths and weaknesses?
Arnold: They play a lot of long balls from the defence. It’s our job to stop these long balls by putting pressure on the defence early. Then we can win the ball back higher up the pitch and break quickly. It will be a difficult match because Russia are a physical team. But if we play to our own strengths, we can win the match and complete a perfect qualification campaign. We’ve been working towards this for over a year.
DFB.de: The U21s have won all eight matches in the European Championship qualification so far. What are the team’s strengths?
Arnold: When you look at our squad, you see that we have a lot of quality players in the team. We have a strong squad, even with our new players, who have great technical and tactical ability. The manager is spoilt for choice when picking the starting eleven, everyone proves they are good enough in training. A few players have made a lot of progress after winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games this summer. Serge Gnabry is the best example.
The Germany U21 national team can round off a perfect qualification campaign for the 2017 European Championships with a win against Russia on Friday (18:00 CEST). The U21s are currently working on the final touches in Bad Gögging for the match in Ingolstadt on Friday.
A player who wants to achieve this goal is Maximilian Arnold. The VfL Wolfsburg midfielder will captain the team in the upcoming qualifiers just like he did in the last two matches. The 22-year old spoke to DFB.de in an interview about his role as captain, the match against Russia and the atmosphere in the team.
DFB.de: Maximilian Arnold, you have been training for three days now. How is the fine tuning coming along before the match on Friday against Russia?
Maximilian Arnold: We are preparing for the match meticulously like we always do with the U21s. We’re working on exercises and are analyzing strengths and weaknesses of our opponent.
DFB.de: And what are Russia’s strengths and weaknesses?
Arnold: They play a lot of long balls from the defence. It’s our job to stop these long balls by putting pressure on the defence early. Then we can win the ball back higher up the pitch and break quickly. It will be a difficult match because Russia are a physical team. But if we play to our own strengths, we can win the match and complete a perfect qualification campaign. We’ve been working towards this for over a year.
DFB.de: The U21s have won all eight matches in the European Championship qualification so far. What are the team’s strengths?
Arnold: When you look at our squad, you see that we have a lot of quality players in the team. We have a strong squad, even with our new players, who have great technical and tactical ability. The manager is spoilt for choice when picking the starting eleven, everyone proves they are good enough in training. A few players have made a lot of progress after winning a silver medal at the Olympic Games this summer. Serge Gnabry is the best example.
DFB.de: How important is it to have a good atmosphere amongst the squad?
Arnold: Team spirit always plays a decisive role. We wouldn’t be successful if we never said a word to each other on or off the pitch. We all know each other very well, we’re a tight group and it’s a lot of fun being with the boys. Alongside hard work, it’s definitely an important factor for success.
DFB.de: You captained the team against Slovakia and Finland. You will also be captain on Friday against Russia. How do you interpret your role under manager Stefan Kuntz?
Arnold: The manager spoke to me before the match in Kassel and told me that I was going to be captain. I am very happy, it’s an honour to captain the U21 side. However I don’t think my role has changed significantly, even though I am captain. It’s a new role for me on the pitch that I need to get used to. I’m not a particularly loud player on the pitch however now I have to take on responsibility and assume the position.
