With a hot cup of coffee and plenty of time on his hands, Thomas Schaaf was prepared for a longer session than usual as he faced the questions of the gathered journalists on Monday. The Werder coach had had two days to sit back calmly and consider the consequences of the ‘Million-Dollar-Match’ in Leverkusen.
Thomas Schaaf commented on...
...the team:
“What the team achieved is fantastic. You really shouldn’t forget that we have quite a young team. Players like Mertesacker, Diego, Naldo and Almeida may all appear 35 - and sometimes I have to take a second look myself to check their ages - but they are all just young lads who are still developing.”
...the strengths and weaknesses displayed in the recently ended season:
“We are quite an exceptional team so far as shots on goal and the manner in which we play football is concerned, but we want to improve upon that. It was often too easy for our opponents to score goals against us this season. There are some things which still need optimising.”
...future transfer activities:
“We need to assess the squad. It’s clear that there are two players, who have proven their quality with top performances, that are leaving the club and it is becoming increasingly difficult to pad out the squad with players who will help us on the level which we are on. The number of such players does not exceed the demand from clubs who are pushing to sign them and so the sums involved are forced upwards. You can’t just get involved in every race though. It needs to be sensible as well as serious and the players need to be people who fit into our set-up. I hope to be able to continue to work along the lines of our philosophy. We want to be able to bring international players here in the future, develop them, bring them on and help them to achieve an identity.”