Niklas Mosainder has finally settled down at his new club. The Finnish central defender has been at SV Werder for four months now and has got to know the club, the city and the people on Bremen. “The mentality here suits me, the city reminds me of my home town,” said the 31-year-old.
WERDER.DE caught up with the defender for the latest installment of “Four-Four-Two” to ask him four sporting, four personal and two unusual questions. Hear what Mosiander has to say about life as a twin, his taste in music and the end of his goalkeeping career.
# The best player I ever played with…
… "the best Finnish player was Jari Litmanen, with whom I had the pleasure of playing with in the national team. He was also somewhat of a role model for me growing up. He was playing for Ajax back then when I was still a youth player. I used to watch him a lot. Then I would say Antonio Cassano. He may not always have played, but he was gifted with great technique, was extremely sharp and could read the game so well and pass brilliantly."
# My first few months at Werder have been…
... "difficult, but positive. I arrived with an injury, which wasn’t ideal. But I was happy to be here from day one. I would like to have been training with the team from the start, but the most important thing for me was moving to Werder. I was taken in very well and my family and me feel very content here in Bremen. It’s a little bit like my home town."
# Conceding goals are…
… "always painful. Of course we are very unhappy that we have already conceded so many goals. It’s very difficult to accept, especially for me as a defender. After the games I always replay the goals in my head and think about what I should have done better in the different situations."
# The special thing about the Ajax academy is…
… "the fact that they have trusted a system for so long and align everything to that. It’s impressive to see. But also the fact that from a young age you have professional coaches, who often were professional players themselves, is very good. It’s a good place to learn and you are well prepared for professional football."
# The most Finnish thing about me is…
… "the mentality to always stay true to my work, always give my best and work hard. And also the ability to properly relax and wind down is very Finnish. I manage to do that very well in the sauna – a love for the sauna is obviously very typical for my countrymen. By lots of Finnish characteristics have been lost in the years that I haven’t been living there (laughs)."
# A perfect day-off for me is…
… "When I can spent time with my daughter and girlfriend. When our daughter lets us, we also sleep in a little longer, have slow and substantial breakfast. Then I like to spend time playing with my daughter und we go and do something together. We go to Rhododendro Park a lot as that is quite near to us."
# The biggest prank that my twin brother and I ever played…
… "That’s difficult to answer. We never actually used it our advantage, like in school for example. People always say we missed a trick there (laughs). We never played any tricks with women, or even football coaches. But we definitely have some sort of twin-telepathy going on. For example, often we say the exactly same thing when we are together with friends. My girlfriend recently said that we react the same way in certain situations. We have special relationship with one another. We’re not just brothers, we’re also best mates."
# My favourite music is…
… "Hip Hop. I know not many people will believe me, but I have been listening to Hip Hip since childhood. Jay Z is one of my favourite musicians."
# I never became an ice hockey player, because …
… "at some point we had to make a decision. I used to play ice hockey with my twin brother. I was a goalkeeper back then, now we have swapped positions. We played ice hockey in the winter and football in the summer. When we were 13, 14 years old we were required to also play ice hockey in the summer. That’s when I had to
make a difficult decision. Football was always my favourite sport, so that was the end of my ice hockey career."
# The essentials for trip to the Finnish forest are…
… "a basket to pick blueberries or mushrooms and a camera to take pictures of the animals that you find. I would definitely leave my phone behind. When you are in the Finnish forest, you need to enjoy the nature."
