Stindl: "This win was built on pure desire"

After Borussia’s first Bundesliga win of the season, beating Arminia Bielefeld 3-1, captain Lars Stindl took the time to answer questions from various journalists, talking about his two goals, his celebration after the opening goal and the Foals’ approach to the tasks at hand.

Lars Stindl on…

…Borussia’s first win of the campaign: This win gave us a big sense of relief. It was hard work. This game was all about getting our first win of the season – it hasn’t been a great start to the season for us, so we were extra determined to win this home game. Bielefeld are a tricky team to play against, we knew that – they found their feet quickly this season and had a good record under their new coach. The first three games of the season showed that Bielefeld are difficult to beat. We took on this challenge, but let them back into the game in the first half and even got lucky to not fall behind in the second half. Yann kept the scores level for us. We did try to push forward in the second half, though, we invested a lot and tried everything to be dangerous going forward. The aim is always to get a lot of bodies in the box, especially when the chances to create one-on-ones with the goalkeeper aren’t presenting themselves, then you really need a lot of men in the penalty area to try and force that bit of luck if and when the ball drops. We were able to reward ourselves with a little bit of luck, but it wasn’t underserved – this win was built on pure desire.

…his opening goal: It’s been going really well for me over the last few months and I have tried to carry this into the new season as well. It obviously feels great to have scored again, but it was obviously important for our overall situation and the team spirit to get that first win, no matter how. That was our aim and we pulled it off. We moved it around well before the first goal, then 20 yards from goal the ball found its way back to me. Long-range shots aren’t exactly my specialty, but the ball was deflected and found its way in. That was the bit of luck I’d earned myself. Of course it was a nice feeling. I also think that given my view of it, I was the first person in the stadium to know that it was going in. I was delighted.

…his celebration after the first goal: After I scored I went to hold up the Borussia badge on the corner flag because I think we’ve all had a tough year and a half from a social point of view, including every football fan. Just like for the first game, it was an absolute delight to see so many people in attendance and hear them create an incredible atmosphere and support us for over 90 minutes. It was a tremendous feeling to be able to play football in this stadium with these boys. Moments where you score and run to slide at the corner flag are always amazing, even at my age it’s an unbelievable feeling and worth experiencing time and time again. My celebration came from this situation. It was a goal, not just from me, but from all of us, for Borussia!

…his header to make it 2-1: Patrick Herrmann was a step ahead of everyone else for the second goal. Our players were all rushing forwards, expecting the cross to be aimed there. He saw me a bit further back, found me really well and I managed to score in a way that I’m a bit more used to! (he laughs)

…how his team will approach the challenges ahead: The victory over Bielefeld shows what it takes to get three points. On the first matchday, we said that week by week we need to try to find consistency. We didn’t manage to do that initially and that’s the problem we face. We have the quality, we have a lot of top players, but we have to push ourselves to the edge every week to win games. Then we’ll be able to win both home and away.

…his duty as captain: I have a lot of experience in the Bundesliga now and have dealt with a lot of different situations. I try to pass these on to the younger players and influence them a little. We have a good base, however, with many young players, and also guys that have already experienced a lot and express their opinions. We try to communicate a lot and to be honest and analytical with our results. We did that after our performance in the Leverkusen match, where we weren’t really able to be competitive, and also after the Union game, where we played ok but didn’t really look dangerous. You need players in this situation who can view things with clarity, who perhaps know how these phases come about and who lead the way for the other players. We saw that against Bielefeld. Of course not everything was perfect, and we didn’t play like we have done in some games at BORUSSIA-PARK, but we worked for the win and kept pushing hard. In the first half, we made three or four obvious errors. The most important thing is to stand together, to address these mistakes and have the desire to improve on them. Over the course of a season, you can only be successful as a team. Having a strong group is more important than the individual players you have, if you want to have a good season.     

Lars Stindl after the game.
Lars Stindl celebrates with Denis Zakaria

13.09.2021