Hack: “You can see that the team is working hard and constantly wants to improve”

In an interview, Robin Hack spoke about his development at Borussia so far, his role in the team and the start of the second half of the season.

Robin, the second half of the season begins with the Bundesliga game against Stuttgart on Sunday. How excited are you to be back playing in front of your home crowd?

Hack: It was lovely to have a couple of days to take a breather. Nevertheless, we’re really looking forward to the resumption – especially in front of our fans.

The short preparation phase is also coming to an end. How would you assess the period since the start of training?

Hack: Our fitness stayed at a good level throughout the relatively short break as we kept ourselves fit with a few runs. We’ve got through some demanding and intensive, but also very good sessions since the start of training and the boys have been working super hard. Therefore, I think we’re on the right track and ready for the upcoming challenges.

What’s the mood like within the team currently?

Hack: Even though the last couple games before the winter break didn’t go as hoped, the general mood is very positive. We had time to analyse our mistakes from the first half of the season and we’ve dealt with those errors critically. However, we’re also trying to forget these games quickly and look forward. Overall, it needs to be our aim to improve on the things we addressed.

You featured in the starting eleven in the last couple of games and have got minutes more and more often recently. What do you make of your personal development?

Hack: When I made the decision to make the move to Borussia, I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy and that I would need time to settle here. Even though I’ve only made brief cameo appearances at times, I’ve had a lot of fun from the beginning and have always tried to give everything. That paid off towards the end of the first half of the season and I’m glad and grateful to have received more chances recently.

The season so far has been marked by a mixture of positive, but also sometimes disappointing results. Those in charge at Borussia forecasted a season with possible setbacks before the start of the campaign. How you do assess the progress up until this point?

Hack: In my opinion, you can already see significant progress over the first six months. However, there are still some things that we aren’t doing well and they are unfortunately always repeating themselves, but that’s part of the learning process and we want to work on that in the second half of the season. However, I think that we as a team along with the coaching staff have a good approach for dealing with such mistakes and you can see that the team is working hard and constantly wants to improve.

What do you see your role as within the team?

Hack: As a player who has already been able to gain some experience, I would now like to take responsibility among our young players, continue to help them on and off the pitch and set an example with my actions.

On Sunday, you’re playing against a team that surprised a lot of people in the first half of the season. What are you expecting against VfB Stuttgart?

Hack: They were very impressive in the last few games before the winter break and played at a high level. Therefore, it’s definitely not going to be an easy task. Nevertheless, I think we’ve got a good chance. We certainly won’t back down, we want to be aggressive out of possession and we’ll bring the basics. It will also be important to have more control when we’re in possession and threaten in attack. I’m really looking forward to the usual great atmosphere and to be back playing at BORUSSIA-PARK.