Having qualified for the for the European Championships with a 100% record, the Germany U21s face their first test before the competition in Poland in 2017. Stefan Kuntz’s side are aiming to record their 13th consecutive victory since September 2015 when they take on Turkey in Berlin on Thursday.
Someone who wants to repeat his impressive form in the Bundesliga with the U21s is RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner. The newly-promoted side have surprised everybody and currently sit in second place in the Bundesliga. Werner has already scored five goals in ten games and has made three assists in a successful start to the season. The forward speaks to DFB.de in an interview about what he wants to achieve with the U21s and the match against Turkey. In addition, the 20-year-old sums up his first few months in Leipzig.
DFB.de: Mr Werner, your team secured their ticket to the European Championships in October having won every game. Now you have your first friendly in the build-up to the tournament. Is there good reason to believe that the U21s’ winning streak will continue?
Timo Werner: Of course. If we use our biggest strengths on the pitch, then any team would find us difficult to play against. We need to concentrate during this match just as much as we have done in our previous games. If we do that, then we’ll win. We want to extend our winning run.
DFB.de: What are the squad’s main strengths?
Werner: Overall, we have strength in depth and get along well with each other. We have a lot of pace up front and every player fully understands our playing style. Whoever plays for us, you needn’t worry – we just have huge quality throughout the squad.
DFB.de: What do you think is in store for you when you face your next opponent?
Werner: It won’t be an easy game as the Turks also have quality in their side. It’ll be an interesting challenge for us, especially as many Turks and Germans with Turkish heritage will be in the stadium - I'm expecting a great atmosphere. It’ll be a good test for us which we’ll take seriously.
DFB.de: How important is a test like this ahead of the Euros next summer?
Werner: It’s just good that we can test a few different things out, as it’s not so bad if something doesn’t work straight away. Despite this, we definitely want to win the game and not throw away our good run with one bad game. We want head to the European Championships in Poland with as much confidence as possible.
DFB.de: Leipzig have had an incredible start to the season and you’ve also been playing well. How would you describe your first few months at the club?
Werner: The team warmly welcomed me and I am more than happy to be in Leipzig. Being part of this team is so much fun. I think we’ve brought something new to the Bundesliga. Other teams aren’t finding it easy to play against us, we are good on the counter-attack and are dealing well with their game plans. We are in a very good position in the league. I want to play with this momentum with the U21s.
DFB.de: You are level on points with Bayern in second place after just ten Bundesliga matchdays. Do you think you can compete with Bayern for the title?
Werner: Definitely not. Firstly, we have to prove that we can compete with them for an entire season and we haven’t done that yet. We are concentrating on ourselves and we simply want to win points. We can reconsider this question in the future if we carry on doing so well.
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Having qualified for the for the European Championships with a 100% record, the Germany U21s face their first test before the competition in Poland in 2017. Stefan Kuntz’s side are aiming to record their 13th consecutive victory since September 2015 when they take on Turkey in Berlin on Thursday.
Someone who wants to repeat his impressive form in the Bundesliga with the U21s is RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner. The newly-promoted side have surprised everybody and currently sit in second place in the Bundesliga. Werner has already scored five goals in ten games and has made three assists in a successful start to the season. The forward speaks to DFB.de in an interview about what he wants to achieve with the U21s and the match against Turkey. In addition, the 20-year-old sums up his first few months in Leipzig.
DFB.de: Mr Werner, your team secured their ticket to the European Championships in October having won every game. Now you have your first friendly in the build-up to the tournament. Is there good reason to believe that the U21s’ winning streak will continue?
Timo Werner: Of course. If we use our biggest strengths on the pitch, then any team would find us difficult to play against. We need to concentrate during this match just as much as we have done in our previous games. If we do that, then we’ll win. We want to extend our winning run.
DFB.de: What are the squad’s main strengths?
Werner: Overall, we have strength in depth and get along well with each other. We have a lot of pace up front and every player fully understands our playing style. Whoever plays for us, you needn’t worry – we just have huge quality throughout the squad.
DFB.de: What do you think is in store for you when you face your next opponent?
Werner: It won’t be an easy game as the Turks also have quality in their side. It’ll be an interesting challenge for us, especially as many Turks and Germans with Turkish heritage will be in the stadium - I'm expecting a great atmosphere. It’ll be a good test for us which we’ll take seriously.
DFB.de: How important is a test like this ahead of the Euros next summer?
Werner: It’s just good that we can test a few different things out, as it’s not so bad if something doesn’t work straight away. Despite this, we definitely want to win the game and not throw away our good run with one bad game. We want head to the European Championships in Poland with as much confidence as possible.
DFB.de: Leipzig have had an incredible start to the season and you’ve also been playing well. How would you describe your first few months at the club?
Werner: The team warmly welcomed me and I am more than happy to be in Leipzig. Being part of this team is so much fun. I think we’ve brought something new to the Bundesliga. Other teams aren’t finding it easy to play against us, we are good on the counter-attack and are dealing well with their game plans. We are in a very good position in the league. I want to play with this momentum with the U21s.
DFB.de: You are level on points with Bayern in second place after just ten Bundesliga matchdays. Do you think you can compete with Bayern for the title?
Werner: Definitely not. Firstly, we have to prove that we can compete with them for an entire season and we haven’t done that yet. We are concentrating on ourselves and we simply want to win points. We can reconsider this question in the future if we carry on doing so well.
