Schicker: “Football has to be uncomfortable”

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14 November 2024, 03:14 yayınlandı

Andreas Schicker has now been in the role of Managing Director for Sport at TSG Hoffenheim for five weeks. The 38-year-old, who celebrated major successes with Sturm Graz and won both the Austrian league and cup in the summer, now wants to bring about a sporting upturn and inject fresh enthusiasm in Hoffenheim. “In the future, I repeatedly want to be fighting for a place in Europe with a young team which, in a best-case scenario, is one of the three youngest in the league – and spring surprises that way,” said the Styria native in his first SPIELFELD interview, before adding: “It should become clearer again what TSG stands for.”

For the 38-year-old, this includes a clear idea of the desired style of play: “It’s about always being active, a lot of vertical play, going forward at speed, getting into the final third and numerous penalty area situations. That’s how I envisage football, but it also requires the right personnel. I’ll try to be clear in my future decision-making in that regard.”

According to Schicker, the quiet environment in the Kraichgau provides a great opportunity to develop young players in the best-possible way. However: “Quiet should never mean comfortable; it shouldn’t mean an oasis of well-being,” said the Austrian. “In the long term, I certainly don’t want to have players who enjoy the peace and quiet above all else.” His fundamental attitude is therefore clear: “Football has to be uncomfortable for you to be successful.”

Andreas Schicker also has clear ideas about the club’s fundamental direction: “We have to consistently appeal to the fans of tomorrow. We want to win over young fans. This also includes making the first team much more tangible again (…) We as a club must become active, get out there – not the other way round.”

In the interview, the former professional footballer also talked about the accident 10 years ago in which he lost his left hand, and explains the extent to which this injury still shapes him today: “I’ve always been very grounded; I think I never conformed to the cliché of a classic professional player, but this experience still does something to you. It really brings you down and makes you realise the privilege of being a footballer. For me, it was simply clear I wanted to pursue my goals even more consistently.”

Also in the November issue of SPIELFELD, TSG Hoffenheim’s club magazine, there is an in-depth profile of new signing Adam Hložek, Valentin Gendrey answers questions in the popular “No comment” column, goalkeeper Lukas Petersson talks about his home country of Iceland in “Fact or Fake” and Grischa Prömel discusses his “best goal”. Furthermore, climate expert and meteorologist Sven Plöger talks about the effects of climate change on sport, and SPILFELD explains what you can hear in the new TSG podcast “Elchtastisch” (Elktastic). All this and much more can be found in the 100-page edition of our TSG monthly magazine from Friday onwards.