Improvement down to back three

Pablo Thiam is only thinking short term. Instead of worrying about pre-season goals, the Wolves skipper would rather concentrate on his side’s next Bundesliga game, away to bottom placed club Kaiserslautern on Saturday (17.12.05, kick off 3.30 pm): Thiam knows that only a win will do if the Wolves:  "Can go into the winter break with the feeling of having taken a turn for the better", says Thiam in the latest edition of Captain’s Corner.

The Wolfsburg captain also talks about how he thinks that the marked improvement in performance was down to the new back three, as opposed to the usual back four: "In midfield we had two attacking midfielders in Andres D'Alessandro and Juan Menseguez, while at the back we played a man in front of the two out and out defenders, which helped us organise our defence better. The game against Stuttgart went better than the games beforehand had done."

vfl-wolfsburg.de: Pablo, Your side’s tremendous effort was not rewarded, at home to Stuttgart on Saturday. The Wolves have now gone 7 games without a win, how frustrated are you after the latest defeat?

Pablo Thiam: Very frustrated, especially because we had such high hopes before the game started. We can however, look forward to our final game of the year in Kaiserslautern, because we gave everything against Stuttgart and we were unlucky to lose.

The Wolves looked much-improved against Stuttgart, skill-wise and they battled away until the end. Which positive aspects did you take with you from the game and what has to be done to improve things even further?

Pablo Thiam: We have to start scoring again; we have to admit that we are not making the most of our chances.

Despite performing well, the defence conceded a goal again. How could Silvio Meißner turn up unmarked in front of Simon Jentzsch?

Pablo Thiam: It was down to a chain of mistakes which are hard to explain. Silvio Meißner simply had more luck than Simon it that situation. On the whole we didn’t allow them many chances, and every team gets the odd chance during a game. It is very bitter when you don’t take your own chances and lose the game to a half chance by your opponent.

The defensive side of things played a lot better and there were more chances created up front. Is that improvement down to the new back three tactic adopted by Holger Fach?

Pablo Thiam: We played better in all departments. In midfield we had two attacking midfielders in Andres D'Alessandro and Juan Menseguez, while at the back we played a man in front of the two out and out defenders, which helped us organise our defence better. The game against Stuttgart went better than the games beforehand had done. We were dominant up front and proved that we are not as bad as some people are making us out to be.

Saturday’s opponent Kaiserslautern is bottom of the Bundesliga table, having only collected 9 points in 16 Bundesliga games so far. Lautern has its back to the wall, what kind of game are you expecting? 

Pablo Thiam: It will be a real battle which will be decided by a will to run for each other and battle away. If we can produce the kind of form shown against Stuttgart we have a good chance of victory in Kaiserslautern. It won’t be easy though. We will have to defend with everything we have, while at the same time take our chances up front.

The World Cup draw took place in Leipzig on Friday. Germany was drawn against Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador. How tough is Germany’s opposition and what do you say to the other groups? 

Pablo Thiam: To be honest, I haven’t addressed the draw because I had other things on my mind. Germany has a relatively easy group compared to some other sides. 

Thanks Pablo, we have our fingers crossed for the crucial clash in Kaiserslautern!