Thiam: "No such thing as a lesser team!"

"Three points would have gone a long way to calming things down around here, but as everyone could see, the team ‚s nerves are frayed and those nerves are stronger than our determination at the moment." Three days after the disappointing home draw against Arminia Bielefeld, the Wolves skipper was answering questions about the Wolves in the latest edition of his Captain’s Corner feature. The Guinea-born midfielder was substituted against Bielefeld, and is self-critical about his own form: "I am playing really bad, I know that myself. So I can only give my all during training trying to impress."

Holger Fach mentioned the nerves within the team after the game. How can a team with Wolfsburg’s ambitions play against a so-called "lesser side" with so much fear and so little pressure?

Pablo Thiam: There is no such thing as a "lesser team" in the Bundesliga! We all saw how well Bielefeld played against Bayern Munich in the last round of the Bundesliga, so to label them like that is unjustified. If like us, you have the 1-6 defeat in Bremen still spooking around your mind, the team is not able to play as freely as we would like to. Such games have to be digested first; they leave a mark on you.

The home crowd was booing the team before the half time whistle, can you understand their frustration?

Pablo Thiam: They were whistling as we warmed up before the game, which of course didn’t help when the nerves are frayed. We don’t need that sort of situation; it was as if we were fighting against relegation.

Things didn’t go well for you against Bielefeld. You were taken off midway through the second half...

Pablo Thiam: I am playing really bad, I know that myself. So I can only give my all during training trying to impress. The coach will decide whether to pick me or not, and he decides how long I remain on the pitch. I’m not angry with Holger Fach, after all, we have played a lot of games and the summer break was a short one, add to that my recent injury problems. Like I said, I am not playing well and I have discussed that fact with the coach.

The Wolves haven’t won a game in their last five attempts, and have only scored three times during those matches. There are surely several reasons for the dip in form. Is the current negative run of results responsible for the fact that the team is not functioning as a unit at the moment?

Pablo Thiam: I wouldn’t put it like that; we simply have many players with various problems. But I see them trying their best to turn things around, trying to do a job for the team as a whole. That is all we are capable of at the moment. There is not a single player in the team who is not trying.

Next Sunday, the Wolves play Mainz away in the Bundesliga. Following their shaky start to the season the side under coach Jürgen Klopp has greatly improved. They almost took a point off Bayer in Munich last time out, how strong are they?

Pablo Thiam: It will be as difficult a game as the ones we had against Cologne Duisburg or Bielefeld. Mainz is no push over that’s for sure. We have to clear our minds in order to prepare for them properly.

Last season, the Wolves won 2-0 in Mainz. After that match, Wolfsburg suffered two bitter defeats 1-5 in Bochum and 0-3 against Bayer. How do you plan to change the team’s fortunes?

Pablo Thiam: We hope to take maximum points from the game in Mainz so that things calm down again, it won’t be easy though it will be a really tough game for us.

Thank you, Pablo!