Clemens Fritz Schalke professional Klaas Jan Huntelaar faced numerous games on the pitch. And the respect for the now 37-year-old is still unbroken, as the head of professional football at Werder Bremen revealed on Tuesday.
Knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Klaas Jan Huntelaar: Clemens Fritz (r.).
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From Bremen’s point of view, the idea is of course obvious, and Clemens Fritz did not hesitate long when he was asked about the new savior of the opponent before the next Bundesliga game against FC Schalke 04 on Saturday: Klaas Jan Huntelaar. “I would compare him to a certain extent with Claudio Pizarro, who always had an effect on his team, regardless of whether he was substituted on or played from the start,” said Fritz.
Pizarro, 42, had ended his professional career at Werder after the previous season, but he radiated class and cleverness to the end; When it comes to attackers, one likes to speak of the so-called “nose” in this regard. And Fritz, 40, now also awarded this feature to the 37-year-old Huntelaar. “It’s just these strikers who know where the goal is,” he said, “who create dangerous situations out of nothing.” Even if only with the tip of your toe. Therefore, the Dutchman, who has not yet played for Schalke again due to a calf injury, should “never lose sight of the game” if he should play.
Fritz fears Schalke “What else should happen to us?” – mentality
In general, Fritz considers the game against the bottom of the table to be “extremely dangerous”. His fear: that the Schalke team will develop a “What else should happen to us?” Mentality that they could play freely. “Somehow nobody expects Schalke anymore”, he warned in view of the measly seven points of the opponent after 18 game days, “but nobody should assume that 99 percent is enough for us – we should rather give 110 percent”.
After the 4-1 win at Hertha BSC, Werder is now in a trend-setting phase of the season and “a week in which we can achieve a lot,” said Fritz. After the Saturday game against Schalke, the “important cup game” against second division SpVgg Greuther Fürth is on Tuesday, followed by the away game at Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday.
Hope at Selke and Toprak – No offer for Rashica
A game against Schalke comes too early for the injured professionals Ludwig Augustinsson, Christian Groß, Patrick Erras and Niclas Füllkrug. There is still hope for Davie Selke and Ömer Toprak, who both had to be replaced in Berlin. “We have to look from day to day,” explained Fritz. Kevin Möhwald, on the other hand, could again become an option for coach Florian Kohfeldt.
On the transfer market, however, the Bremen-based company is currently in “standby mode”, as Fritz explained: “You can tell that it is comparatively quiet. But we are always ready if something happens.” In addition to a Bundesliga goalkeeper who is still to be signed for Stefanos Kapino, who is on loan to SV Sandhausen, Milot Rashica’s departure is still in the room. So far there has been no specific offer from an interested association. Fritz said: “I really can’t say whether something else will happen.”
