Gladbach's Lars Stindl: 'Dortmund have enormous quality'
Ahead of his team's Matchday 13 meeting away to Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach captain Lars Stindl spoke to Bundesliga.com of the need for his team-mates to remain focused as they seek to end a run of seven top-flight games without a win.
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bundesliga.com: Lars Stindl, after seven games without a win, the players are under pressure, although the club bosses have remained calm. How does the team view the current situation?
Lars Stindl: In a similar way, really. But none of us are blind in thinking everything is rosy right now. It's the opposite: we're brutal in assessing our performances, although doing that shows us that our performances have actually been decent in the main, and that we could have won one or two games if we'd had a bit more luck in front of goal, or a bit more composure. But we don't doubt that we have enough quality to get something from the coming games.
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bundesliga.com: Do you think there's a danger that in falling back on the quality in the squad too often, you might be underestimating the situation?
Stindl: There's absolutely no chance of us underestimating the situation. We know where we are in the table and that we're a few places off where we want to be - 13th can't be what we aspire to. The club and the players have higher ambitions than that, but at the same time we can see the big picture. We had a very good group stage campaign in the Champions League and we're in the Europa League next year, and we're still in the DFB Cup. We also played well against Köln and Hoffenheim recently - we just didn't get what we deserved.
Watch: Matchday 12 highlights of Gladbach's 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim:
bundesliga.com: What can you now do as captain?
Stindl: If I see something not working as it should be, then I speak about it, or the team committee [Stindl, Tony Jantschke, Yann Sommer, Oscar Wendt, Fabian Johnson, Christofer Heimeroth] discuss it. But I'm definitely not one to scream at people in the dressing room. On the pitch I try and lead from the front by playing well, like the rest of the guys, and no-one has to carry the team along by himself. We have a functioning structure in the team with a lot of important players, like Yann Sommer, an established 'keeper, Oscar Wendt, who's a Borussia veteran or Raffael, who's an amazingly talented individual.
bundesliga.com: The Bundesliga's four Champions League sides are performing below expectations, while clubs like Eintracht Frankfurt, 1. FC Köln, Hertha Berlin and RB Leipzig are profiting. Which team has surprised you most?
Stindl: Well I think everyone knew Leipzig wouldn't be like most newly promoted teams, but not many would have expected them to be top of the league ahead of FC Bayern after 12 games. But I've been really impressed with Eintracht, especially when you consider they were in the relegation play-off a few months ago. Hoffenheim have also done really well and they're still unbeaten, along with Leipzig. Those teams have all performed really well this season and they're not where they are by accident.
bundesliga.com: Do you fear a Dortmund backlash this weekend, after BVB were beaten by Frankfurt on Matchday 12?
Stindl: We don't think like that. We're only focusing on ourselves and our plan, regardless of who or where we're playing. We know we'll be up against a strong team on Saturday - they have enormous quality in their squad - and they may want to make it up to their fans after losing last week, too. But we'll be prepared for that.
Watch: Highlights of Gladbach's previous meeting with Borussia Dortmund: