Löwen leader Verlaat: "Several players have to show mentality over a longer period of time!"
Created: 01/13/2023, 11:30 am
By: Uli Kellner
Sunnyboy: Jesper Verlaat laughs with the sun in Belek.
© Stefan Matzke / sampics
Hardly anyone hit the 1860 like he did: Jesper Verlaat is a win in terms of sport and personality.
We met him before the duel at his ex-club Mannheim.
Jesper Verlaat, exactly two months after the last game, the game continues on Saturday in Mannheim at your former club.
The right opponent to be wide awake right away?
Verlaat:
I think any opponent would be the right one now.
The way we went into the winter break, it's clear to everyone that we have to be wide awake on Saturday.
The break was good for all of us, also mentally.
The joy is there, you have recharged your batteries.
Mannheim becomes a board – like Dresden at the beginning of the season.
Joseph Boyamba said he still has close ties to Mannheim, with his Formula 1 lap around Marcel Seegert.
How is it for you there?
Verlaat:
I was there too – mostly we even watched it at my house.
If the race was in Mexico, we made tacos, always something typical of the country.
That was a great round.
Formula 1 clique in Mannheim - "a great round".
Boyamba is Team Mercedes as he said.
Your case should be clear...
Verlaat:
Of course I'm Team Red Bull. Team Verstappen, clearly.
The highlight was the final in Abu Dhabi.
We watched that with me too – and we all freaked out
(laughs)
.
You're in Munich now, a lion since the summer.
One had the impression that you arrived at lightning speed, athletically, as a type and as a person.
Is the impression correct?
Verlaat:
Not quite.
It took me a week or two to get used to everything.
Again a completely new environment, looking for an apartment again and organizing the move.
All during the preparation.
What was great for me was that everything was settled when it started.
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My space
And how did it work apart from the logistics?
Verlaat:
Preparation is always a discovery phase.
where is your place
With whom do you get along well, with whom not so much?
There are also many new impressions in terms of sport: training design, training content, the people on the club premises.
From the moment I left the hotel and had an apartment, I felt at home.
That has to be the case – otherwise I can't perform.
Now, after the long break in the league, you can say: why was it that before the World Cup break nothing went as well as it did at the beginning of the season?
Verlaat:
What was the reason?
I think every club except Elversberg had a low.
Happens.
You can't win everything and always achieve top performances.
It was just a pity that after Bayreuth (0:1 at the bottom of the table on October 29/ed.) we didn't get the curve, unlike before after defeats.
There was also a bit of bad luck - and suddenly you're in a whirlpool that's difficult to get out of.
In the last four games that has added up - and then it looks bad on the outside.
There was also a bit of bad luck - and suddenly you're in a whirlpool that's difficult to get out of.
Jesper Verlaat on the negative run of the lions before the World Cup break.
How was this processed internally?
Verlaat:
You always tend to be totally negative after a loss - and very euphoric after a win.
I think our lesson must be not to allow these extremes.
Everyone notices that in themselves: if you're not in a good mood, you want to play the best pass, make the best action, somehow desperately get back into the rhythm.
The wrong approach.
It's important to focus on the simple things.
Would you say that the right conclusions have been drawn from the crisis?
Verlaat:
Yes, the important points were addressed.
Maybe it's also about the fact that we have several players who show mentality over a longer period of time.
The best example is Bayreuth.
Since Morgalla was one of the few players loud.
In the future, this will have to be spread over several shoulders.
We all have one goal – everyone has to submit to it.
After the 2022 training camp, everyone raved about the now-famous “Ghost of Belek”.
Is there also the “Ghost of Belek” 2023?
Verlaat:
I think so.
You sit next to each other 24/7, get to know the players in a different way, that bonds you together.
Like with a new girlfriend: You only really get to know her when you live together.
Training camps always take on a momentum of their own - also because of the room layout, which I thought was very well chosen.
All the players were in the room with a position-mate, you with Leandro Morgalla.
How did that work?
Verlaat:
Leo and I get along well, also on the pitch.
In the room we play Mario Kart on the switch every evening.
It's getting hot there.
It's fun with Leo - and it fits.
We both go to bed early, nobody snores.
Leo is a fine guy.
The atmosphere in the room must have been good when the "kicker" ranking list came out.
She was number one at centre-backs, with Morgalla second.
Did the champagne corks pop?
Deichi got into the elevator with us and said: Awesome, now I can go down with the two top players!
Verlaat about the kicker rankings, in which he and roommate Leandro Morgalla occupy the top positions.
Verlaat:
We found out late, from Deichi (Yannick Deichmann), sometime after dinner.
He got into the elevator with us and said: "Great, now I can go down with the two top players!" There were a few jokes, of course on the funny track.
And seriously: something like this reads well, of course, but we haven't achieved anything yet.
We are both down-to-earth enough to know that we first have to confirm these achievements.
Have you ever seen an 18-year-old as far along as Morgalla?
Leave:
He was when he was 17. I can still remember his debut as a starting eleven well – back then in Mannheim, when I was still on the other side.
Sixty had a few cases of corona and our coach said in the dressing room: There is a very young central defender playing today who is probably excited... No way!
There are penalties right at the beginning because a ball falls against his hand.
Bad luck for him, but how cool he continued to play afterwards - that stuck with me.
Even Martinovic said after the game: crazy, he's fast!
I then followed his name, got to know him better over the summer and have to say: how he ticks, how he's on it - never took off, although he was probably always better than everyone else.
You don't even notice the hype.
Nevertheless, he remains down to earth.
He is the way he is.
The trainer is also a special type.
Michael Köllner gives the team Bible verses, lets them play “Truth or Lies”, and turns off the light in the dressing room for meditation purposes.
How are such measures received?
Verlaat:
As a newcomer, you're initially surprised - you have to get involved, that's the most important thing.
Sure: At first people giggle when you sit there in the dark, but now it's a ritual.
Or the movie night in Belek.
We didn't watch Spiderman, we watched Peaceful Warrior, a film with a deeper meaning.
I probably wouldn't have watched it privately, but as a team it's different.
We now know that there is always a message.
Like Christmas presents...
Interview under Turkish palm trees: Jesper Verlaat with sports editor Uli Kellner.
© Stefan Matzke / sampics
Which gifts do you mean?
Verlaat:
We secret Santa as a team - and he gave everyone a book.
He thought about every player.
Then you don't get a novel in your hands, but books with a spiritual background, about the meaning of life, what's in your head.
He himself also writes books, but about tactics.
Tell us which book you got from him?
Verlaat:
My book is called: "The Millionaire and the Monk".
Hiller and Willsch got it too.
Secret Santa gift from head coach Köllner - a book entitled: "The Millionaire and the Monk."
What was your reaction?
Verlaat:
I was wondering if that was an allusion
(laughs)
.
He likes to joke, so I said right away: "I'm the monk!" Some got a book called: "The Slave".
At first they were puzzled as to what that meant
(laughs)
.
Have you started your book yet?
Verlaat:
Not yet.
I'm still on another book: "You don't have to be liked by everyone".
Did you choose that yourself?
Verlaat:
Yes.
Reading helps me get out of the football madness.
Is something philosophical to get other insights.
I'm also the type of guy who sometimes worries a little too much.
In part two, starting on Friday evening, you can read how Jesper Verlaat fared when he backpacked through Vietnam alone during the World Cup break.
Also: What sporting tips does the ex-Mannheimer have so that 1860 can record a sense of achievement in the restart game of the 3rd division (Saturday, 2 p.m.).