Steven Zuber: I’m a lot better than I was

Steven, you now return to Hoffenheim officially as an international player. Tell us about your debut. 

Steven Zuber: Of course it was absolutely fantastic. Every footballer dreams of playing for his country and I’ve now finally been able to do that, so I’m really happy. My wife was at the game, as were my parents and many friends of mine. That really was a special moment. I was satisfied with my performance and our coach congratulated me after the match. But this has to only be the beginning, I want to have a lot more to do with the national team but everything starts here at Hoffenheim. I need to continue to put in performances, week in week out.

Things seemed to have gone perfectly for you in the last few months. Have you had anything to complain about?

Zuber: There is always something that is going to frustrate you. It is part of my character that I am rarely completely satisfied but at the end of the day, you’re right, the last few months have been good. There are many aspects of my game that I still want to improve, in defence just as much as going forward.

Can you be more specific?

Zuber: I learnt a lot last summer in terms of defensive work but there are still things there that are not going quite right throughout the entire 90 minutes. The coaching staff are helping us a lot with that, both on the pitch in training as well as with videos. We watch ourselves back on video every week. I still want to contribute more to our game when we’re attacking and to be more dangerous. Five goals is alright but I can build on that and there are more to come. Part of that is working on my crosses, I need to make sure they land at one of our own players’ feet more often. I do a lot of training for situations that come up in games.

You played on the left for the first time in the summer in a friendly against Oostende. Do you remember that?

Zuber: Oh yes, I do. I played like a bit of a headless chicken. How I was playing back then is poles apart from how I’m performing now. My positioning was poor and I was constantly in attacking mode. I was always going to the ball straight away instead of waiting a bit and letting it come to me. I was much too aggressive. The coach kept on correcting me. “Steven, left, right, forward, behind,” he would say. That was very tough but I’ve learnt a lot from that over time.

You and the team are off to Berlin on Friday to face one of the strongest teams at home in the league.

Zuber: It’s going to be a very difficult game but we have been good on the road so far this season and stuck to the coach’s plan well. We’ve also been very creative in games. We’re going to try and do that as well on Friday. Having that balance is what makes us strong. I think this match will be similar to the one in Freiburg. We need to build on how we did tactically in the second half of the Leverkusen match. That was really good. Hertha are particularly strong at home. They are like a machine. They always deliver.

What is your objective for this last part of the season?

Zuber: We have been near the top of the table for a long time now and we want to stay there. We will do everything in the upcoming weeks to maintain that. It makes no sense to come out with big statements about it. It is about performing to get points every week. If there are then only two or three games remaining and we are still up there, than you can start to talk about Europe. If we deliver, that will come in good time. 

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