WERDER.DE: You’ve known Jojo for a very long time. Werder have always known his potential, but that wasn’t always a good thing for him, was it?
Florian Kohfeldt: “Jojo’s story is a unique one. He came to Werder very young and was considered a top talent. He was the focus of the German youth teams and dominated the B and A Bundesliga youth leagues, scoring goals when he wanted. That led to a massive expectation of him, but I also believe that this time helped to shape him.”
WERDER.DE: In what way?
Florian Kohfeldt: “Jojo was the one that everyone was watching. He had to come to terms with that. It was an unfair level of expectation in my opinion, but it’s natural that the interest was so great, both internally and externally. He was hyped up very early and he had to drop that. I think that he was already under pressure. He’s freed himself from that pressure now. I’m very pleased that he’s found enjoyment in his game again; the ease to play football as a game. That’s what sums him up at the moment.”
WERDER.DE: He’s also developed a lot physically, he was always very hard working...
Florian Kohfeldt: “Absolutely right.”
WERDER.DE: How would you sum up his development?
Florian Kohfeldt: “His development started before last season or this season. We’re very thankful of Axel Dörrfuß and the coaches in the athletics department. Training and individually sessions were more important than competitiveness. He turned up to a third division game tired once or twice. You can see today how much it took and how much more consistent he is. I think that he’ll come along even more. He’s constantly in a process of development.”
WERDER.DE: That was an important step...
Florian Kohfeldt: "All of them were steps towards him understanding himself as part of a team sport. He was partly focussed on himself individually. He’s now got back the same feeling for the game that he did so well with in the youth teams – but he’s benefitting from being better physically. The build-up to the goal in Leverkusen shows just what instincts he has."
WERDER.DE: How important is Johannes Eggestein for the future of Werder Bremen?
Florian Kohfeldt: “I won’t put any more pressure on him again (laughs). He can definitely play an important role for us in the coming years. But he also knows that he’ll get the time to develop here because that’s what he’ll need. There’s no way we’ll put the pressure of carrying the whole attack on his shoulders. We’re not expecting him to have to be the main guy. Jojo is on the right path, but he has to learn about the team and individual tactics. He’ll decide games for us, of that I’m sure. And if he’s a key player for the team the season after next, with a lot of our play going through him, then that will have been a nice development.”
He always keeps himself to himself and stays focused. He is calm.Florian Kohfeldt
WERDER.DE: And onto Maxi. Thomas Schaaf often said that you get a lot of specific memories about players you’ve coached for a long time. Do you have one about Maxi?
Florian Kohfeldt: “It’s hard to squeeze everything he can do into one memory. Too many come to mind. But there is one very important memory in his career that I remember. It was in a third division away game in Rostock, that felt like a Bundesliga game due to the atmosphere in the Ostseestadion. We got a penalty after a foul on Ousman Manneh in the 80th minute. Ousmann wanted to take it, but I’d designated Maxi as penalty-taker beforehand, and he couldn’t be dissuaded from taking it. He put the ball on the spot and in front of 17,000 people scored with an ice-cold finish. It was the moment for me when he took the step from being a youth player to a key player, which is actually mad as he was very important for this club in his younger years. People often forget that.”
WERDER.DE: What period are you alluding to?
Florian Kohfeldt: “Maxi was in the starting XI when we played Frankfurt in an all-or-nothing clash back in the 2015/16 season. He’s done a lot for Werder, going through both good and bad patches. He always keeps himself to himself and stays focussed. He is calm. That’s a huge compliment for such a young man.”
WERDER.DE: How do you convince a young player, who can presumably pick who he wants to play for, to continue their development at Werder?
Florian Kohfeldt: “I had a lot of conversations with Maxi, not every week, but one or two long, honest and open conversations. It was important for me to emphasise that he doesn’t have to be thankful now after signing. I think he’s decided to dare to become a great Bundesliga player. It was therefore a logical step to sign a new contract here because he will be a key player for years to come.”
WERDER.DE: His performances have already been very consistent...
Florian Kohfeldt: “He never drops under a certain level in his performances. That’s incredible for such a young player. Taking 100% to be a high standard, Maxi never falls under 90%. He barely makes any mistakes, even when you’re analysing a game looking for a positional error, for example. Of course he can have ‘special moments’. We’re all thinking about that goal he scored against Frankfurt.”
WERDER.DE: Will that be the next step in his development?
Florian Kohfeldt: “The next step will be making the others around him play better and making special moves more often. On the one hand, scoring goals and getting assists, but on the other hand making his teammates better with his gestures, presence, the way in which he plays and his passion for the game, both on the pitch and in the changing rooms, and before and after a match. I believe he can do all of that, and Werder is the right place for him to accomplish it. I think the argument for him to extend wasn’t gratitude, rather the realisation of him continuing his journey as a player at Werder."
WERDER.DE: You’ve been with him since U17 level, in various roles and age groups. Do you have a special relationship with Maxi?
Florian Kohfeldt: “We appreciate and understand each other, because we’ve gone through phases together that haven’t exactly been plain sailing. That’s the important groundwork for how we work together, but he’s still my player. We don’t go out for meals together three times a week. I prefer doing that with my wife (laughs). Anyway, there are different people that need to be singled out for making him who he is now."
WERDER.DE: Who do you mean?
Florian Kohfeldt: “Viktor Skripnik was his coach for a long while. He made him a Bundesliga player, when he substituted him on against Paderborn as a 17-year-old. I was the assistant coach. I don’t want to remember anything incorrectly. Viktor played a very important role in his development, just like Björn Schierenbeck, who discovered him at the time, and many more from the Werder performance centre.”
WERDER.DE: How pleased are you that both players are now playing such an important role?
Florian Kohfeldt: “It brings me great joy that both are staying. Players’ identity to Werder has always been a big part of the club. We have two players in Maxi and Jojo who fully identify with the club and are also hungry for success. I think it’s a huge compliment to the club and everyone involved here that they say ‘We can be successful here.’”
WERDER.DE: What kind of a signal does this send?
Florian Kohfeldt: "It’s a sign that we are in a position to keep talented Bundesliga players, who are in the Germany national team ranks. It’s a good sign, but we don’t gain anything from a good sign. We want to keep getting results in the Bundesliga in the coming weeks, that’s what our job is all about, including Jojo and Maxi’s."