Chiarodia: “Picking up three points together with the fans”

Fabio Chiarodia on his first months at Borussia, ‘talent training’ and upcoming opponents Werder Bremen.

Fabio, you joined Borussia in the summer. At first, you were mainly in action for the U23s, but you’ve increasingly featured for the first team recently. How have the last few months been for you?

Chiarodia: It was the first time I’ve been so far away from my family. Although I was welcomed really nicely by the team, I needed a bit of time to settle in and feel comfortable. At the start, the chances of being able to get on the pitch for the first team weren’t that high, so it made more sense to be part of the U23s first in order to get some match practice, which is extremely important for a young player like me,. I’m even happier though now that I’ve been playing in the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal.

How do you assess your personal development? What’s going well on the pitch and what do you still need to work on?

Chiarodia: I’ve definitely noticed that I’ve improved a lot in the last few months. I’ve got much more confident and proactive. That’s maybe also because I’ve become more mature and alert in this new environment, which has also helped me a lot on the pitch. But of course I still have weaknesses which I need to work on, like my right foot for example.

You’ve been regularly taking part in our ‘talent training’ since the start of the season. How much are these individual sessions helping your development?

Chiarodia: The talent training is a good thing, not just for us young first team players, but also for the youth players. The extra training sessions are good for us all. It makes it possible to work on specific aspects of ourselves. In Guido Streichsbier, we have a coach who has a lot of experience working with young players and knows exactly how to handle us. He points out a lot of things to me that I wasn’t really aware of before.

Borussia are currently 10th in the Bundesliga with 16 points. What have you made of the season so far?

Chiarodia: As we’ve often said, not everything works well from the outset. There was an upheaval at Borussia in the summer and what’s going on right now isn’t going to change overnight. It’s a process. Of course we’d like to have another point or two on the board, but I think that improvement has been noticeable in the last few weeks.

In which areas is this particularly apparent to you?

Chiarodia: By all means in terms of our team spirit and our mentality as a team. Each individual is trying to push himself to his limits and support his teammates in the best way possible, both on and off the field. We just need to do that more consistently now.

Werder Bremen are the visitors on Friday evening. It’s the last home game of the year. Why should the fans come to the ground once more?

Chiarodia: It’s quite simple. It’s a Friday evening game under the floodlights against a great opponent. In addition, we as a team benefit enormously from the fans. They can eke the last few percent out of us players with their passion, thereby increasing our chances of picking up three points together in our last home game of the year. 

You made your first start in the Bundesliga here at BORUSSIA-PARK last season. That was for Werder back then. You’ll be on the other side at the weekend. What kind of game are you expecting against your childhood club?

Chiarodia: I’m expecting an emotionally charged game that’s full of energy – both in the stands as well as on the pitch. Both teams are capable of playing attractive football, which is why the fans can certainly look forward to a good game between two great traditional clubs.