There are very few Green-Whites who can boast the same level of experience as Niklas Moisander. Werder’s defensive leader has had a busy career, both at club level and internationally, and now the 32-year-old has committed himself and his valuable experience to SV Werder Bremen for the coming years. We marked the occasion by speaking to Niklas about his experiences – in particular those that were new to him at Werder Bremen, despite already having many years at various clubs behind him.
WERDER.DE: Something you’ve learned about German football...
Niklas Moisander: "In all honesty I had no connection with German football whatsoever before moving to Werder – I played against Dortmund in the Champions League once, that’s all. What I learnt is that you have to work hard and do a lot of running here. Germany is quite simply a footballing nation; the people live and breathe football, especially in Bremen. It still impresses me to this day how the whole town gets behind the club. It’s fantastic. I am glad I’ve been able to build on my experiences in the Netherlands and Italy by coming to the Bundesliga and getting to know the differences. In Holland it’s often just about your attacking game – you basically don’t do any defensive training (laughs). Modern football is a complete sport in itself though which includes a lot of aspects, physicality being one. I think the football in Germany is more complete than in Italy or the Netherlands."
WERDER.DE: Something you’ve learned about yourself at Werder...
Niklas Moisander: "That the German mentality suits me well (laughs). I like living here, playing here, working here. The German way of playing football suits me as well – it requires a lot of running and is much more defensively orientated, which is what makes me the player I am. I find enough space here to play to my potential. Despite already having a lot of experience under my belt, I took a big step forwards physically at Werder. Despite my age, I’d never been as fit as I was last season."
WERDER.DE: Something you’ve found out about Northern Germany and Bremen...
Niklas Moisander: "Even in Finnland we have the classic stereotype of the serious, efficient German who lacks a sense of humour, but this cliché is unjustified in my opinion - I like the humour here. I also rate how safe you feel on a daily basis and how well-organised urban life in Bremen is. That is a big difference from Italy, where I used to live with my family."
WERDER.DE: Something you’ve learned about Florian Kohfeldt...
Niklas Moisander: "First of all, I must say I consider myself very fortunate to have had so many fantastic coaches in my career. As for Florian Kohfeldt: He is already a good coach and will become an even better coach. The way he prepares his players for games is very good. It really impresses me how he conveys what the deciding factors will be at the weekend and how we work on these aspects during the week at training. The way he adapts our game to suit the opposition and the clear vision he has despite his young age also really impresses me. Thanks to him, our game has become very flexible, and that to me is one of the most important things in modern football."
The relegation battle made me psychologically strongerNiklas Moisander
WERDER.DE: Something you were able to learn from Louis van Gaal...
Niklas Moisander: "He is definitely the most tactically obsessed manager I’ve ever had. But above all, it was discipline that you could learn from him – I know he’s notorious for that. Personally, he taught me how important it is to live for the sport you play, to be disciplined at all times and to give absolutely everything, so that you don’t regret not doing so. These experiences carried me through my career. They are the reason why I take everything about my game very seriously and always focus."
WERDER.DE: Something you’ve only been able to sense at Werder in the last few months…
Niklas Moisander: "Werder have a clear plan now on how they would like to structure a strong team for the future – with Florian Kohfeldt as the head coach, with the new summer signings. I would like to be a part of this. I am sure we can finish a lot higher in the table than in recent seasons. This is another reason why I extended my contract. In all honesty, I never even considered other options."
WERDER.DE: Something you learned from the relegation battle...
Niklas Moisander: "The last two years have been tough – especially the first halves of both seasons. To be honest, I was never involved in a relegation battle with my teams in the Eredivisie – it was all about either the title or qualifying for the European competitions. The relegation battle made me psychologically stronger. This was a completely new thing for me and now I have the feeling that this phase has come to an end. We finished last season well and were finally able to make the Weser-Stadion a place where visitors struggle to beat us. I think the foundations for a better season have been laid now – I don’t want to even talk about a relegation battle anymore. Nobody in the team wants to. It’s time to take the next step and put the relegation battle experiences behind us."
