A quick chat with the head coach, autographs for the Werder fans and lots of handshakes with former teammates. Clemens Fritz has arrived in Zillertal. The former Werder captain has a completely new role at the training camp. Fritz is collecting valuable experience as a coach. Read his short interview with WERDER.DE, in which he gives an overview of what the next few days will be about for him in Zillertal.
WERDER.DE: Welcome to Zillertal, Clemens. After seeing the training pitch, do you wish you were on it instead of next to it?
Clemens Fritz: “No, absolutely not (laughs). I enjoy being able to follow the drills from a different perspective and I like standing on the fringes of the pitch.”
WERDER.DE: So you have no desire to beat yourself up from dusk until dawn…
Clemens Fritz: “I did that for long enough and I’m not comping at the bit to get back to it. I know what the lads have to do here and how difficult it is, but also how important it is for the whole season.”
WERDER.DE: What’s the focus of your attention during your visit?
Clemens Fritz: “The Zillertal trip is perfect for me to gather useful information in just a few days. You can see all elements of a Bundesliga team here. One on hand, for me it’s about picking up useful insights into training and on the other hand, a few important sponsors are here, with which we’re organising workshops. In that regard, it’s about the aims of the company in every sense and planning for the future.”
WERDER.DE: How are your finding your new role as a trainee?
Clemens Fritz: “The switch from player to trainee wasn’t too difficult for me, which a lot of people predicted would be the case. I was always told: ‘You have to get up much earlier’ and ‘the working hours are so much longer’. That is indeed the case, but there are so many versatile and exciting insights which I’ll get. I’ve been away with the scouts a lot and I’ve been faced with the internal restructuring. Frank Baumann gave me a lot of insight into this area. There were a lot of things that were completely new for me, but also questions which I have a clear opinion about, because I didn’t just come to this club yesterday.”
I’m really happy that I can see our daughter growing upClemens Fritz
WERDER.DE: Are there things behind the scenes which run completely differently to how you imagined during your time as a player?
Clemens Fritz: “Definitely. To take the scouts as an example, you’d maybe think that they travel away, watch the 90 minutes relaxed and maybe do a bit of sightseeing in the city while they’re there. But the guys really have a lot of work. There’s the constant travelling, the hours of preparation before games and work after them and the reports on players and trainers. That was all completely new territory for me. And it’s the same for so many areas of work around the team, which you don’t have a great look into as a player.”
WERDER.DE: There was also another highlight for you this summer in your private life…
Clemens Fritz: “Yes, absolutely. Alena and I have been married since last summer, but we celebrated it with our closest friends again. That was really nice. We didn’t want a huge event, so we kept it small. I’m also really happy that I can see our daughter growing up.”
