It looked like the Austrian media world had waited weeks for Werder, for their compatriots, for Marko Arnautovic and Sebastian Prödl. It was not a surprise that the first full day of...
It looked like the Austrian media world had waited weeks for Werder, for their compatriots, for Marko Arnautovic and Sebastian Prödl. It was not a surprise that the first full day of...
It looked like the Austrian media world had waited weeks for Werder, for their compatriots, for Marko Arnautovic and Sebastian Prödl. It was not a surprise that the first full day of training focused on the Austrian internationals. Werder have been receiving media requests for weeks and Friday they were all there. All told there were 16 journalists, four photographers and three camera teams - from the APA news agency to the Kleine Zeitung, the largest in Styria.
And all eyes were fixed on the unlike pair - the assumed constantly level-headed Prödl next to the always extroverted Arnautovic. "Objection!" said both players. "You can't really make those comparisons. Basti has his qualities and I have mine. We have different duties on the pitch and have to be different there as well," said Arnautovic, who received support from the defensive specialist Prödl. "It's clear that I can't play any nonsense in the back and have to be calm while Marko can have a blast up front and also take some risks with the odd turnover allowed. That is also part of the image," said Prödl.
Off the pitch, the Styria native Prödl has a somewhat different picture of the Serbian Viennese Arnautovic. "You can always read a lot about Marko, but that fact is that he has worked well into the team. I thought I would have to take him to the side more often. But that has not been necessary. He is fully integrated. It's not really a surprise, he's been around. Werder is his second big club. He speaks Serbian, Italian and now he's also learning German," said Prödl grinning, not nearly as well-behaved as his compatriots know him from the media.
