After Oliver Glasner’s side had their first training session of the year following arrival in the Portuguese town of Almancil on Saturday, there was a double-session in store for the Wolves on Sunday. In some down time between drills, Green-and-Whites skipper Guilavogui chatted about his holiday, the training camp and the team’s aims for the second half of the season.
Hi Josuha, before we talk about football, how was your holiday? You were at a very special destination…
Josuha Guilavogui: “I was at home with my family in France for the first few days and we spent Christmas together. On 25 December I flew to Guinea to visit the children at the orphanage I’ve founded together with some of my relatives who live there. It was my first time and it was very special. I was particularly delighted to see all the developments that have been made. The kids couldn’t really speak much French before, but they’ve really improved now. I was really happy to see that because it shows that the team we have out there are doing really good work. The children are given accommodation, food and the school is very close by.”
You’ve now had the first training sessions of the year here at the camp. How much do your legs ache?
Josuha: “They ache quite a lot, but that’s normal. We know what all the hard work here is for. Training for the second half of the season is really important and will help us feel in top shape. We’ve got everything we need here and we’re already in good condition, which we need to maintain. Our playing style demands that we be extremely fit.”
Oliver Glasner has said that the focus of training will not be on physical fitness as much as it will be on other technical and tactical areas. That suits you a bit more, doesn’t it?
Josuha: “Obviously working with the ball is much more enjoyable [laughs], but this morning we had a really tough two-hour conditioning session. That’s just as important and we’ve got a really high level of quality in training because everyone’s given their own individual fitness regime. We want to achieve our aims and qualify for Europe again, and we need to give our all if we’re to do that.”
The Bundesliga table is very tight after the first half of the season…
Josuha: “That’s right. We had a decent first half of the campaign, and even though we dropped too many points too easily, we’re still in touch at the top. Looking back, we could be even higher up if we’d beaten teams from the lower half of the table. There’s still everything to play for and we’ll do everything we can to achieve our objectives.”
