Plea: “It was a bit of a relief for me”

Alassane Plea speaks to us about his leadership role, his past goal drought and Borussia’s development.

Lasso, you’re in the Foals’ team council for the first time this season. What has that changed for you personally?

Plea: A fair few experienced players left us in the summer and, being 30 years old, I’m now one of the older players in the side and am part of the team council, which has obviously somewhat changed my role in the team. We’ve got lots of young lads in the squad and that’s why we more experienced players have to lead by example, give them a bit of direction and show the boys how to behave on and off the pitch.

There are lots of French players in the team. Are you now the first point of contact for these players in particular?

Plea: Since Ibrahima Traoré left the club, I’m the oldest Frenchman in the squad. It’s well known that I’m a man of few words and prefer to let my actions do the talking on the pitch. That being said, I obviously like to pass on my experience in the changing room, especially to the younger players.

You’ve been at the club for more than five years now. What made you stay at Borussia for so long?

Plea: I feel very much at home at Borussia and if that hadn’t have been the case, I wouldn’t have stayed here so long. Borussia is a club that doesn’t just offer good sporting prospects, but also has a great overall environment, which is really important for me. My wife and children also really like it here and that’s why we made the decision together to stay in the Lower Rhine region.

You’re playing mostly as a false nine under Gerardo Seoane. Do you like this role and how are you able to play to your strengths in this position?

Plea: It’s definitely the position that I like the most. You’ve got a lot of freedom as a false nine and you can be creative. In that particular position, you can have a big influence on the game and you can get goals and assists to contribute to the overall success of the team.

You had to wait for your 50th goal in a competitive game for Borussia for several months. How was this goal-drought period for you?

Plea: It was definitely a difficult period for me, when I hadn’t scored for so long. On the one hand, it was very frustrating, but on the other hand, I knew that I would get the goal if I carried on working hard and giving my all. And then I finally notched a goal in Bochum.

…and you’ve already scored four times since then.

Plea: This goal was somewhat of a relief for me. I knew that things would get easier for me to score goals after that. That’s exactly what happened afterwards. The strange thing is that I didn’t really do too much differently beforehand. However, it’s often just a matter of self-confidence and it’s a question of whether you get that little bit of luck with a shot going in or not. At the moment, things are once again going better for me, and I certainly hope that things continue like this for now.

The fans chanted your name after the game in Bochum. How important is the fans’ support to you?

Plea: I have to admit that it did me the world of good and also made me quite proud. The fans have always stuck behind me and the team. I’m very grateful for this support.

You were also on the scoresheet in the recent 3-3 draw against Freiburg. How come this didn’t end with a win?

Plea: After going 3-1 up, we stopped playing football and let them push us into our own half far too much. We gave the ball away far too often instead of holding onto the ball and continuing to create our own chances. We need to learn from this game and place ourselves under far less strain next time we find ourselves in a similar situation.

Key figures within the club keep stressing that the team finds itself in the middle of a process. What do you make of this?

Plea: We have a very young team. We need a little bit of time for all the pieces to fit together and for us to start playing the football that we all want to. We have lots of quality within the team. What we’re still lacking is experience. However, if we are able to continue on this path and gain experience together, then I’m sure that we will eventually deliver more stable performances.

You are set to take on VfL Wolfsburg at BORUSSIA-PARK on Friday. What kind of game are you expecting?

Plea: It’s going to be a complicated game. We know that Wolfsburg have plenty of quality. However, we’re playing at home in front of our fantastic fans. We are now unbeaten in three competitive games at BORUSSIA-PARK and we’ll give everything on Friday to keep up this little run.