We were chatting with our coaches from the three adult teams Keegan (FCGH I, Vitonen), Markus (FCGH/Akademie, Kutonen) and Felix (FCGH Hki 2015, Harraste Vitonen) about the upcoming season and their thoughts.
First of all, how are you guys doing?
Keegan: excited for the new season!
Markus: Really happy to be on the pitch again playing football with awesome people.
Felix: Doing great. Happy that we can finally have team practices again.
After returning to the field and having the first training sessions, what are your first impressions?
Keegan: My my, how the club has grown! Last Friday with 40+ guys on the pitch at some point was really an eye opener. There’s a little bit of rust visible in some players (myself included!), but that’s normal after not paying for 6 months.
Markus: You could see how excited everyone is to be back on the football field. All players are very motivated which is the most important precondition for a good season.
Felix: I agree, it felt great to be back together on the field after such a long time. Everyone was highly motivated and the atmosphere so far has been great.
How did the preparation go overall and how did the Covid-situation affect this?
Keegan: the guys who were interested took part in regional training sessions in small groups during the last few months. This was mainly fitness work, and I think helped to keep many guys in good shape coming back. Touch on the ball though will take a little while to return.
Markus: Obviously, the fact that we could not train for half a year did not allow us to prepare that much. As our FCGH/Akademie-Team is completely new with many new players, there hasn’t been any preparation as a team for the upcoming season yet.
Felix: We had a small group of players that met once a week for a training session, but other than that we mostly prepared individually. Most of the guys are already in good shape physically, but the feeling for the ball is obviously not as good as it was before the break.
The first games are scheduled already for the beginning of June. Do you feel that the team is ready for the season?
Keegan: Not yet. We only announced a preliminary squad for fcgh 1. on the 24th of May, and with some new players coming in, the guys have to get used to playing with each other again. We will be ready though! And also all of our opponents will be in a similar situation, so the playing field remains level.
Markus: Depends on how you define ready. Our team will be ready regarding its organisation, we have a great pool of players and I am very confident that we will have a functioning team on the pitch. Of course we are not used to playing together, thus it will take time to find the right position for every player and work well as a team on the pitch. But as our team mainly aims for having fun, I am not worried about that at all.
Felix: We definitely need more practices together to get in game shape. We are also happy to have a few new team members that we need to integrate, however, we have a core of players that have been playing together for several years already. This was already our strength in the last years and should also be an advantage this year.
Anything about your tactic and playing style you want to reveal at this point? Where do you see the strengths of the team?
Keegan: Counter attacking and set pieces will remain important sources of goals for fcgh 1 this season, but we would like to get better at controlling the tempo of games and keeping possession too. We will also experiment some playing a 3-5-2.
Markus: That is really too early to say, as we haven’t had any training or match together, yet. It is likely that we will focus on having a stable defense, first.
Felix: Since we are a hobby team we like to keep it simple tactically. The emphasis is definitely on getting everyone involved both offensively and defensively. This makes it a lot easier in a 7v7 game. As our main strengths I would point out our experience and physicality.
Short and precise – what is the goal for your team this season?
Keegan: promotion to Nelonen.
Markus: Having fun and winning as many games as possible.
Felix: Our main priority is definitely to have fun, but this is usually easier when you win games 🙂
If a soccer god existed and you had one wish for the upcoming season, what would that be?
Keegan: no injuries and always a full squad of players to choose the team from.
Markus: That we grow together as a team where everybody loves to be a part of.
Felix: Getting through the season without any major injuries
Any final words you would like to share?
Keegan: looking forward to another great season and to the continued support of the Germania family!
Markus: Our club is built on voluntary commitment. It is fantastic to see so many people caring and working for the club by contributing their free time.
Felix: Best of luck for the upcoming season to all our teams!
Thanks so much for the insights and all the best for the upcoming season!