Babbel: “Transferring the talent to the pitch”

Markus Babbel on...

....his experiences of Hoffenheim:

“Hoffenheim has always meant something to me. When I was a player at Bayern, I had the honour of playing in the first ever game at the Dietmar Hopp Stadium. Uli Hoeneβ said to me at the time that something special would happen here. At the start of this week I received a phone call in which I was asked if I could see myself coming to Hoffenheim. The answer was an obvious ‘yes', otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here.”

…the potential within the squad:

“Hoffenheim have a lot of young, talented players, who of late have found it difficult transferring that talent to the pitch. We want to rediscover that attacking dynamic that the team has. That means a lot of hard work on the training ground, however, and it will take time.”

...the challenges of the coming week:

“The first thing we have to do is to properly get to know all the players and have a proper conversation with all of them. We hope to be able to have a positive effect on the team, even in the short time before the Bremen game, so that we can line the team up as best as possible for the game itself. The team needs to enjoy some success as soon as possible. The best way to do that is, obviously, through a win. We've been unpredictable opponents for Bremen in the past and we have to try and use that to our advantage.”

…his relationship with Dietmar Hopp:

“As far as my relationship with Dietmar Hopp is concerned, I assume that I will have a close working relationship with him. He is an important personality to this club and the region; without him, none of this would be here. In my eyes, therefore, he is perfectly entitled to ask how things are going. His opinion carries a lot of weight, and I see it as a duty of mine to keep him informed.”

Rainer Widmayer on…

…his first impression of the squad and the team's preparations for the game against Werder Bremen:

“We first tried to form an impression in our minds of what the team is like. For that reason, I've gone through video analysis with them and also consulted with the fitness coaches. As far as the game with Bremen is concerned, we already have a good idea of how we want to approach it.”