Interview with Skripnik: "A complete will to win"

Werder’s coach Viktor Skripnik can be happy with his team’s pre-season (Photo: nph).
First Team
Wednesday, 05.08.2015 / 12:06

For the first time in his managerial career, Viktor Skripnik has led a Bundesliga side through pre-season ahead of the new campaign. The head coach has enjoyed some exciting weeks, and in an interview with Werder, Skripnik reviews the summer's pre-season, speaks about the new players, high expectations and the start of competitive fixtures in the DFB Cup.

In the last few weeks you have led your first ever pre-season training of a Bundesliga team as head coach. What is the difference with pre-season with other teams?

Viktor Skripnik: "I was eager to find out myself whether it would feel different, but football is football... One thing, however, is quite different in the Bundesliga, and that is the extreme competitiveness between the clubs and also within the team. You need to be incredibly detailed to be successful because sometimes the smallest things can be the difference between victory and defeat. It's not a nice task to make the decision about which players travel to the training camp or whether someone plays or not. When it comes to difficult decisions, I try to always be fair and honest." 

Reinforcements and strong competition

Viktor Skripnik with new signings Felix Wiedwald, Ulisses Garcia, Florian Grillitsch and Anthony Ujah (Photo: nph).

What is particularly important for you?

Viktor Skripnik:
"Respect and discipline mean a lot to me. I try to make that clear right at the start of a pre-season. It's about dealing with each other in the changing room, in training, in the game. Everyone must understand that they have the job of writing the history of Werder Bremen. The players should have respect for their teammates, their co-workers, the kit men, the cleaning staff. And they must respect the rules. The players must know what is expected from them and what they get from us in return. If someone strays from these ideals, then we have a reason as coaches to change things."

In terms of the current team, why is new signing Anthony Ujah the right man for Werder?

Viktor Skripnik:
"His way of playing is simply class. He plays aggressively, has a strong technique, a good understanding of the game and is always dangerous. He showed in pre-season that he wants to take on responsibility from the beginning - both on and off the pitch. The fact that such a good player has decided to play for Werder speaks wonders for our work."

Felix Wiedwald...

Viktor Skripnik:
"... I've known him a while from when he was young. He carries Werder in his heart, and that hasn't changed despite being away for a few years. When we knew that there was a possibility to sing him, we were all quickly in agreement that we have to bring him back."Felix has shown in pre-season that he is a real reinforcement for us."

Ulisses Garcia is a quite young player...

Viktor Skripnik:
"... Like many others in the squad. We pick young players when we believe that they can provide strong competition for the more experienced players. We haven't brought in Ulisses Garcia to sit in the stands, but he has the same chances as everyone else to prove himself. So far he has made a good impression."

Good friendly results

Skripnik and his team are looking forward to starting the Bundesliga season at the Weser Stadion (Photo: nph).

How far can the team progress forward during this season?

Viktor Skripnik:
"I know that there are enormously high expectations of us, from fans and experts. And we have brought that on ourselves with our good performances in the second half of last season and the fact that we have barely changed the squad for the new season. Personally I would like to progress a lot as quick as possible, but that doesn't happen overnight. We have to stabilise ourselves and have a clear objective: we absolutely want to have a good start to the season."

You start with a home game against Schalke...

Viktor Skripnik:
"A very attractive and strong opponent. We're glad that we can begin the season at home and we have to be 100 percent straight away for the first home game."

The first competitive game of the season is this coming weekend. What are your thoughts ahead of the game against Würzburger Kickers, a team just promoted to the third division?

Viktor Skripnik:
"It will a difficult game. Everyone expects that we, as a Bundesliga club, will beat the third-division side with our eyes closed and on one leg (laughs). Of course we ourselves expect to win, but we have also learnt ourselves that you can lose to a third-division side when you're not at your best. For the opposition it is the game of the year, for some players even the game of their lives. It will be a lively affair."

What can you do to make sure there are no bad surprises?

Viktor Skripnik:
"It's about giving the team assurance and self-confidence so that the players believe in themselves and the team. That only works when you are in good physical condition and have good pre-season results like we had in the last few weeks. I can promise that we will approach the game with a complete will to win."

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