Handball coach: "Borussia Dortmund have incredible potential"

André, if you draw a line under last season, what are your thoughts?

"I'm satisfied. Finishing as runners-up was the maximum that we could achieve. Bietigheim were simply outstanding this season – in terms of their squad depth and the experience of the individual players. And with a totally different quality to what we had last year too. We have four minus points too many, those were from the defeats against Blomberg and Thüringen. But then there is a considerable gap to third place, to fourth place and fifth. In that sense, we're satisfied. We were eliminated by Bietigheim in the cup, that was an unlucky draw. We had an outstanding first half-season in the Champions League, but in the second half of the season we sometimes ran out of steam. Overall, though, we definitely gave a good account of German women's handball.

You just mentioned Bietigheim. Is that rivalry like the one in football between BVB and Bayern Munich?

It's a little bit like that. Because just like in football, your economic means play a role. If you look at the squads, you can see huge differences in the average age and the number of international matches. Our top players like Mia Zschocke and Amelie Berger are still young. Alina Grijseels is also relatively young. You have to just accept it.

Does that mean you are casting envious glances at Baden-Württemberg?

No, I spent decades in Blomberg and I knew I would not become a German champion and yet I still enjoyed developing the whole club. Now I'm here and I've become a German champion twice, in principle, and a German runner-up once. I think Bayern Munich are the only ones in sport who will become German champions 10 years in a row. But Bietigheim won't win the title 10 years in succession.

Is that a statement of intent?

Yes. I can accept that Bietigheim have been better this time, but we will challenge again.

Why is there such a high level of player turnaround?

That's not a Dortmund phenomenon. If you look at the 14 clubs in league, there are definitely 10 or 11 that have had between six and 12 departures. That's not healthy. There are many reasons for that, of course. Agents play a special role, as does the market itself. That means that a player who leaves always finds a new club. It's certainly a general phenomenon when I hear the justification being given is: it's not good here, I'm going there.

Is it not frustrating to always have the feeling you're starting from scratch again?

Yes. It's like me being a teacher and starting every year with the entry-level class.

It's back to an entry-level class every time?

I think that we in Dortmund are at a high school level. But you start afresh every summer, you have to find rules and guardrails. Of course, it would be better to build on what happened in the previous season. That's obviously a huge advantage for Bietigheim.

If you compare the squad from the 2021/22 season and the one for next season, which one is stronger?

I think the squads are at the same level, although it's hard to say that in advance. It's difficult to assess the newcomers, of course. I guess Merel Freriks will leave a huge gap; she developed into a top pivot for us, she was an important component of our defence and attack. Laura van der Heijden scored important goals for us in some games because she is just ruthless in those moments. That's a big quality. Otherwise, however, we certainly have enough potential to improve.

What will the new signings need to be able to do, what requirements do they need to fulfil?

We are looking for players who want to embrace challenges, endure pressure and go the distance with us.

BVB are German vice-champions. But what needs to be improved off the pitch?

We have incredible potential. But it also makes a difference whether we play a Champions League match in front of 300 spectators in Dortmund, in front of 2,500 in Budapest, or in front of 3,500 in Brest or Rostov. This is a problem. We don't have a fan culture in handball. We don't have that kind of support. I think we are third from bottom in the HBF spectator table. And as the reigning German champion, that set off my alarm bells. We have to do something about that.

Is that all?

No, we – that's Bietigheim and Dortmund – are light years behind the international competition on a structural level: arenas, seminar rooms, weight rooms, infrastructure. In other words, we're not competitive. We make the best of it, but players are much better off in Budapest or Bucharest. We have to compensate for this competitive disadvantage. We also can't keep up with the international competition when it comes to salaries. A top performer in the Champions League is not affordable for us.

What needs to change?

I think there has to be a certain amount of full-time employment, a certain amount of professionalisation. Compared to other countries, women's sports are not as recognised in Germany – even though at the top level they are in no way inferior to men's sports. We train just as often as a men's Bundesliga team. In Hungary or Denmark, the games are all broadcast on public television; in Germany, not even a World Cup game is broadcast, let alone a Champions League game. That has a huge economic impact. It leaves you going round in circles.

What would you improve in the coming season?

I think we have to handle the strain of the Champions League and Bundesliga even better – on a mental level too. We did over 90 video sessions, which is a tremendous strain on the players. The physical strain is difficult to reduce; our squad was small. There was a game every three days. On Wednesday, we had to win in the Bundesliga to stay in the race. And on the weekends, we had to put in a top performance in the Champions League or else we would have really suffered.

What's your objective for the 2022/23 season?

We want to stay close to Bietigheim for a long time, get to the Final4 if possible and defend our position in the Bundesliga. That's not to be taken for granted. Thüringen and Neckarsulm have strengthened a lot.

You also had unbelievably bad luck in terms of injuries.

True. Bietigheim didn't have any serious injuries; we had too many. Bietigheim didn't have the burden of the Champions League, which also makes a real difference. We lost Dana Bleckmann in September, which hurt us a lot because she was in very good form at the time. Amelie Berger was also out of action later in the season.

What about reinforcements from your own youth setup?

We brought Lena Hausherr back from Zwickau. Merle Albers always wanted to go abroad; we wanted to keep her, she was supposed to become our third pivot. Now we have to wait a little bit again; our B-youth squad is really strong.

What do the coming months have in store?

After the World Cup in Slovenia between 22 June and 3 July, I'll go on holiday to Fuerteventura for a week. Then the preparations begin. I always look forward to the new team, to the new players. First of all, we will have a short training camp in Winterberg; you're not always in the hall, you don't have the pressure to get results. Now I'm looking forward to the decision on the Champions League – I think we have a chance.