"It's been a great week!"
Jesse Marsch gives his summary of the team's training camp in Saalfelden, praising the attitude and team spirit both among the players and the coaching staff.
Stunning views, sunshine and work, work, work. It’s been a tiring week for all at the Saalfelden training camp. The foundations for an exciting season have been laid – players and coaches have used the last few days to grow closer as a unit.
Before heading back to Leipzig, head coach Jesse Marsch shared his thoughts on the week in Austria.
Jesse, how pleased are you with the training camp on the whole?
I’m really pleased! It’s been a great week with almost the whole group. We’ve got another test ahead of us though in the form of a training game against Al Hilal and a friendly against Ajax. Then we will see how much we’ve learnt in the last few days and whether we are ready to perform on the pitch.
What was the highlight of the Saalfelden training camp for you?
Our tournament day on Friday was very special to me. Everyone put their heart and soul into it – it was outstanding! That’s our goal as well: to keep building a real team together.
After just under four weeks of pre-season, how fit are the players and what specifically would you still like to finetune?
We’ve all worked really hard over the past few weeks and the players are all fit and ready for the friendly and the cup game in Sandhausen. Since the players all started training at different times though, we will have to wait and see who is a candidate to start these games.
It’s been an intense week for you coaches as well. Have you been able to get to know each other better?
It’s been an opportunity for us all to get to know each other better and I have to say it’s going very well. The atmosphere and the unity among us coaches and in the whole team is really strong.
The atmosphere and the unity among us coaches and in the whole team is really strong.
What are you hoping to learn from the friendly against Ajax?
Ajax are a really good opposition and the game poses a huge challenge. But we are fit and ready. A good performance would allow us to add to the positive feeling we’ve been able to create from the last week of training. That will really help us in next week’s important DFB-Pokal game against Sandhausen.
After the last friendly, competitive games will finally begin. How pumped are you for the start of the season in front of fans again?
I’ve always experienced a great atmosphere at our ground, so I am pleased to be back here at RB Leipzig representing the fans as coach. The important thing is for us to always give everything as a team and show desire on the pitch. The results won’t always be in our hands, but the mentality and quality of our team mean we have a lot to look forward to.