Training camp in Marbella: Sebastian Kehl on stability, objectives and young talents | OneFootball

Sebastian Kehl on the conditions:“Unfortunately, the last day or two haven’t been ideal due to the rain. Nevertheless, we made the best of it by changing pitches yesterday. Everyone here is working together to make sure the conditions are as good as possible. But of course, the sun is also part of that. That’s why we’re happy that it’s going to be nicer today.”

…the season so far:“We’re not 100% satisfied, but we’ve taken a huge step forward: second place, lots of good results, lots of statistics that speak for us. The team have made great strides since March, including the Club World Cup over the summer, in terms of their discipline, leadership and team spirit. Together with the coach, we’ve achieved a lot.”

…the defence:“We have been extremely stable, especially in defence. We have kept eight clean sheets in the Bundesliga this season. We have conceded 12 goals. The defence is a real showpiece. If you compare us with other teams in Europe, we are top in that respect. But we have more potential in attack. We want to improve our creativity in the final third. We also want to try to develop more of a goal-scoring threat and, of course, score more goals. We’re working on that.”

…his expectations for the second half of the season:“We all measure success by our position in the Bundesliga table and, of course, by qualifying for the Champions League. For us, the minimum goal is to be there again next year and to achieve that sooner rather than later. But of course, we also want to continue to improve in the more intangible areas. After a turbulent year, we have brought in a lot more calm. Of course, we also want to make our fans happy in the stadium. We want to continue to be a figurehead in Europe, playing attractive football. We have to continue to work on our development concept. That’s why there are exciting tasks ahead in 2026 that can’t be measured solely by our position in the table.”

...second place in the table:“We’re there and we want to stay there, but we’ll have to work hard to do so. I believe we have every chance of staying in that position. To do so, we’ll have to perform well and improve, because the other teams aren’t resting on their laurels. Many teams, such as Leipzig, don’t have midweek fixtures and can concentrate on the Bundesliga. Leverkusen and Frankfurt are doing a very good job, so it won’t be easy.”

…the match against Frankfurt:“It would be extremely important for us to get off to a good start in January, carry the momentum from the last few games and maintain second place in the table. But we know how difficult it will be at Eintracht. We had a battle against them in the DFB-Pokal. Recent Bundesliga encounters have also been very intense. Nevertheless, we've always played pretty well against them. But beating Frankfurt certainly won't be easy.”

…the club’s talented youngsters:“We want to continue integrating young players and increasing their opportunities to play for the first team. That’s why the lads (Mussa Kaba, Samuele Inacio, Mathis Albert) are here just now. For Mussa, who is doing well here in his first few days, it could also be a chance to get one step closer to the professional team following the departure of Pascal Gross. We already had Mathis and Samuele with us in the summer. We want to bring the lads closer in this second half of the season. In the first half of the year, we brought them closer to senior football, mainly through the U23s, which was the plan. I would love nothing more than to see our own talents get playing time with the senior squad in the second half of the season. Ultimately, their performance will determine whether that happens. Nothing is given away here, there are no promises, but in the end there are opportunities.”Transcribed by Christina Reinke