Holstein Kiel is where Hamburger SV wants to be: in first place in the 2nd Bundesliga. Thanks to the 3-0 win against Hanover, the club surprisingly goes into the winter break as autumn champions. Fiete Arp (23) played a large part in this – who once made his breakthrough into the professional ranks at HSV in the Bundesliga, moved to FC Bayern and was celebrated as a talent of the century. The attacker who scored twice against 96 explains the upswing from the fjord!
“I think the approach – we don’t have a star, we have to work as a team – helped us a lot. “Sometimes it’s not a bad idea for the squad to be completely renewed,” says Arp. There was a change before the season. 16 professionals left, eleven new ones came.
The club has lost top players such as attacker Fabian Reese (26/Hertha BSC), central defender Hauke Wahl (29/St. Pauli) and right winger Fin Bartels (36/end of career). For this purpose, unknown players were brought in who immediately subordinated themselves, contributed and quickly internalized the sporting orientation of coach Marcel Rapp (44).
Rapp showed no mercy
A team-building measure in the summer training camp in Austria also plays a crucial role. Arp: “We players thought about rafting or something else fun. Then it was time to run 15 kilometers. There were only three bikes for the team – so that each of us could recover in the meantime. We were all wide-eyed because the day before we had played a test game in 35 degree temperatures,” says Arp.
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It was hot in the mountains the next day too – but Rapp showed no mercy. “It was brutally hard, we had to go beyond our limits. But in the end, each of us discovered how much we have in the tank, what we are capable of if we all stick together. It unconsciously released additional strength for us, which helped us in the final spurt of the first half of the season.”
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Kiel recently celebrated five wins in a row and climbed from fifth to first place. Rapp, who has been Holstein coach since October 2021, has played a large part in this. “I would describe our playing style as very variable. We are a team that can be dangerous in any situation. We were always able to score goals up front. But now we have managed to get our defense to a level where we can win games,” says Arp. And further: “Our coach managed to convey his idea of football to us in such a way that everyone internalized it. This is a skill that is special.”
Fiete Arp had difficult times at FC Bayern
Kiel remained without conceding a goal in six games in the first half of the season. Rapp also managed to improve players like goalkeeper Timon Weiner (24) and left-back Tom Rothe (19), who was on loan from Dortmund II, or to get professionals like captain Lewis Holtby (33) and Arp back on track. The latter in particular is overjoyed. Because Arp went through difficult times after his move from HSV to Bayern Munich in 2019 and his unsuccessful breakthrough with the record champions. He was even relegated to the second team.
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Kiel brought him in two and a half years ago, and after two mixed seasons, Arp is now blossoming. He scored five goals and prepared one. “It has worked out extremely well in the last few weeks after I was hardly taken into account at the beginning of the season,” says Arp.
After Holstein stabilized after the start of the season with four wins and three defeats from the first seven matches, Arp was allowed to be in the starting line-up – and impressed. Arp: “It’s better to join a team that is successful. That makes it easier for you when you’re behind – but then you get your chance when the team’s processes are right.”
Arp’s wish: Get promoted together with HSV
Since the tenth matchday (3-1 against Rostock), Arp has always been in the starting line-up, apart from the draw in Osnabrück. “You need a reason to believe, especially in situations where you get your chance. There are players who do that from the start. Then there are those, including myself, who begin to doubt after setbacks in a career. That’s why you have to push yourself to develop self-confidence. I achieved this through a lot of training,” says Arp. “I knew that if I did more than others, then I would feel better. Then it makes me feel like I deserve my chance. Now I can enjoy being on the pitch again.”
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His next wish: a double promotion for Kiel and HSV: “If I could wish for it, Holstein and HSV would go up together in the end.”
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The text was written for the Sports Competence Center (WELT, SPORT BILD, BILD) and first published in SPORT BILD.
