TSV Eching held on to coach Alexander Günther after the district league relegation.
In the FT interview, he talks about the backing of the club and the promotion race.
Eching – The footballers of TSV Eching are the hottest potato in the district league when it comes to (re)promotion to the district league.
As the top of the table, the Black and Whites greet them from above during the winter break - four points ahead of Moosinning II, which will most likely not be promoted because the first team is already playing in the district league.
In an interview at the halfway point in the season, coach Alexander Günther talks about the reasons for the success, how to concede as few goals as possible and what still needs to be worked on for the spring.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
Mr. Günther, the most important question to get started: Has the sparkling wine already been sidelined with an eight-point lead over Allershausen?
(laughs)
That's a very direct question to get you started.
Of course we played a very good half-year, but the omens before the season weren't the best.
We lost some top performers and raised second-team players.
It was not immediately clear where the journey would go.
On top of that, we got off to a bad start with the deserved defeat against Kranzberg.
If someone had said that we were in the cup final and that we were first in the winter, I would have signed it straight away.
However, there are still ten games to play and we saw for ourselves how open this league is.
We have to be very focused on that.
But the guys are doing well and I'm confident that we'll be up there at the end.
Why does it go well again after the descent?
Football also knows other examples.
A big plus is certainly our playful quality.
All the players are right on the pitch, even 18-year-old Thomas Asvestas.
What also speaks for us is the homogeneity in the team – nobody takes themselves too seriously.
As a result, you don't really notice that we've lost top performers.
And there is a good hierarchy in the team.
Everyone knows who is a young player and who is a top performer.
With twelve goals in 16 games you conceded the fewest goals.
What is the secret behind a stable defense?
(laughs)
That's a very good question.
Any coach will tell me that if the defensive line is good, you're on the run.
We're always good for a goal up front.
And, admittedly, sometimes we were lucky this year.
But a compliment goes to the guys at the back, or actually to the whole team.
Not for nothing does it say that the striker is the first defender.
What is there to improve for the spring round?
Basically, there is always something to improve, and the boys know that too.
Each game starts again from scratch and lasts 90 minutes.
We did score a lot of goals offensively, but we can play out certain situations even better.
Who was the positive surprise of the autumn series for the coach?
Of course I would have to name the whole team here.
I did talk to Thomas Asvestas beforehand, because at 18 he's already performing.
But really taking someone out would be unfair, I would have to list all the players.
After relegation, TSV Eching remained loyal to you.
That's not a given in football, is it?
Rather less.
I have to say that it was remarkable to know last winter that I would stay – no matter in which league.
That was a lot of trust on the part of the club that we - my assistant coach and I - could then pass on to the players.
We saw that again this year before the season.
It's remarkable that they put all of the sporting responsibility into our hands.
We now want to repay this trust.
Who will be your biggest competitor in the fight for promotion?
Although we beat them in the last game: FC Eitting.
They'll stay at the top.
Just like FC Moosinning II, regardless of how the whole thing turns out.
Behind them there will certainly be some surprise teams, such as FC Lengdorf or FCA Unterbruck.
Is it psychologically an advantage or a disadvantage that FC Moosinning II may not be promoted?
This is of course already an issue for us internally.
But when you're a footballer, of course you ultimately want to get promoted and do your own thing.
I experienced that myself as a coach when the district league was newly introduced.
We climbed up in fifth place, but that only felt like a 20 percent climb.
Interview: Matthias Spanrad
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.