“I feel really at home at RB Leipzig”
Janis Blaswich video interview | Our keeper talks about his start at RBL, the injury to Péter Gulácsi and his expectations for the upcoming Bundesliga games
Our summer signing in an exclusive interview. After the serious injury to RBL goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi at the beginning of the season, Janis Blaswich quickly established himself as the Red Bulls' new keeper and put in a strong first half to the season. In the video interview, he tells us how he dealt with the unexpected promotion to the top job and what his expectations are for the second half of the season.
“We have the right characters in the goalkeeping position”
Janis Blaswich on ...
…his start at RB Leipzig:
“I had a really positive start at RB Leipzig, even though it was bumpy at first from a performance perspective with results not going our way. But then the team worked on it quickly. We got the points we set out to get. It was a very intense time, but you can see what we can achieve when we perform as a team and play to our limit."
…his reasons for joining the club:
“The Bundesliga was and is still my big goal and I have taken a step closer to achieving that by being at RB Leipzig, albeit initially as a number 2 – but that was clearly communicated to me.
I feel really comfortable amongst the goalkeeping team, and it’s always been a lot of fun. The team just works great together. We have the right characters for that in the goalkeeper position."
You have to always be prepared to be called up to the number 1 position
…the injury to Péter Gulácsi and his new role for the Red Bulls:
"Of course, you have to be prepared to become the number 1 all of a sudden. But it was more with one eye crying and one eye smiling due to Péter Gulácsi's major injury - I wish him all the best and a quick recovery!
It went by really quickly with the intense double-game weeks and plenty of international games as well as the DFB-Pokal. I’m happy that we got the points and that we worked as a team to do so. What we play on the pitch is just good fun!”
…his first competitive appearance:
"There were friendlies with the team, and we train together, but a competitive match is a different situation. But the team made it easy for me, knowing what to do came naturally thanks to them. You don’t have much time to think and that helps you to get into the game quickly."
…the team’s potential for improvement:
"There are always details where you can improve and work on. I was satisfied because we won lots of games and bagged a lot of points. But you analyse every game and see which areas you can work on or what you can do better to perform at a higher level.
You never stop learning. The move to RB Leipzig was quite consciously related to my work as a goalkeeper - here I can get a lot out of it for myself and improve."
It is important to have a good mix of young and wild and old and experienced
…being a role model:
"As an older player, you are looked at differently by the youngsters. It's especially important to be there as a role model and to support with the little things when it's needed - also in terms of the whole thing. It is important to have a good mix between young and wild and old and experienced.” (laughs)
…his expectations for the second half of the season:
“I always look forward to the upcoming game the most – this time it’s a huge game against Bayern Munich. However, the other games are just as important. If we get the points against Bayern but then drop the points against the other sides, then we won’t have won anything in doing so. We’re setting ourselves lots of goals and have to do a lot to achieve them! Of course, it won’t happen magically, but if we look back, we can definitely take a positive energy with us into the second half of the season.”