FC St. Pauli

Fabian Hürzeler on…

...his impression of new signing Aljoscha Kemlein: "He's settled in really well. Josch is a hardworking, modest person who is willing to learn and whose values make him a great fit for us. He has great potential and we want to develop that. He hasn't played that often in recent months, but he's been training with top-quality players and that's made him better. I'm happy to have him here because he can definitely make us better."

...FC Kaiserslautern and the host of changes there: "They're very unpredictable. They've been working on a new system and played in a 4-4-2 in their warm-up matches. They've tried to pressurise the ball high up the pitch and operated a strict man-oriented press. In the last few games before the winter break they played with a back five or a back three. I can't tell you how they'll play here. We have to prepare for a team that will sit back but press us high. They also have lots of good quality new players who are all capable of making Kaiserslautern a better team. It's noticeable that they have an incredible amount of players with pace and we have to prepare for that. We have to keep our positioning tight in possession and our gegenpressing will be good if we do that. It won't be if the gaps are too big."

...our own approach: "It's important for us to stay true to our style and our DNA. We'll make a few minor adjustments, such as the space we want to play in. What you give the team along the way and how much is important. Getting the balance right is key. We on the coaching team have to know what possibilities we can expect. You can't give the players too much, and you can't give them too little, but they have the ability to put lots of things into practice."

...the comparison with two years ago: "We were top of the table back then and the team the others were chasing, now we're second and have to do the chasing. Mentally the approach is different. Getting consistency in our performances will be important. If the performances are right, the results will be right. If we keep playing and defending well, the results won't stay the way they were in our last few games. We'll keep wanting to create opportunities and be resolute in defence, the things that have always made us strong. The way we defend as a team will remain decisive in the second half of the season. Our credo is to keep as many clean sheets as possible to get consistency in our results."

...the sense of anticipation before the resumption: "Competition always unleashes emotions and tension. The first half of the season was good, but just the opening skirmishes. We're getting down to the real business now. The time has come to deliver. It's an opportunity to show what we're capable of as a team and as individuals and that's what we aim to do. We've had a short winter break and want to hit the ground running. We aim to show our intent and desire to win the game straightaway. We know we're up against an unpredictable team with lots of individual quality, one that's capable of hurting any team in this league, but we're at home and want to translate the energy to the stands from the off and take the fans with us, and I hope we can give them the win."

Photos: Witters