Klaassen: "Show that we are better!"

Davy Klaassen will do everything within his power for a better season than last for Werder (nordphoto).
First Team
Saturday, 15.08.2020 / 16:40

Davy Klaassen and his teammates enjoyed a relaxed start to what will surely be ten demanding days of preseason training at the Green-Whites’ camp in Zillertal. "We’ve eased into things, but I’m expecting things to get tough," said the Dutchman with a smile on day one. Saturday’s first session was described by Werder’s second top goalscorer from last season as "acclimatisation in the Alps," with pass exercises, mini-games – just a chance to run out.

In the afternoon, the second session awaited. For Klaassen, the training camp in Zell is the time for improvement, which he points out with reference to the narrow escape from relegation just over a month ago. "We want to avoid another season like that at all costs," said the 27-year-old. "We cannot let ourselves be deluded the fact that we just about managed to survive and that it worked out in the end. We don’t want to be in that position again."

Focal as they come on the pitch, Klaassen wants his teammates to share this urge to redeem themselves. That has to be our motivation in every training session, he explains. "We want to show that we are better than a team that narrowly avoids relegation. That has to be our drive."

For Davy, the two years spent at the Weser could hardly have been more different from one another. After his first season, when he signed his contract, the club was one point away from qualifying for Europe. In the season just gone, the away goals rule came into play and saved him and his teammates from relegation in the playoff against Heidenheim. 

Klaassen sees these experiences as both a warning and an opportunity. What’s stopping the trend taking Werder’s form back in the right direction for 2020/21, he asks rhetorically. "The Bundesliga is a very balanced league – lots of clubs have similar ambitions. It’s very hard to say from the start where the journey will take us." Klaassen is sure of just one thing, however: He will do everything within his power to make sure the team doesn’t have to pull off another late escape. 

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