Niklas Süle: “Working with high intensity”

Niklas, it’s your first time in South Africa. How do you like it?

Niklas Süle: I wasn’t able to be here last year due to my knee injury, so I’m really glad that I’m here this time around. The long journey was definitely worth it. The facilities here and the hotel are superb. We lack absolutely nothing and only have a short walk to the training pitches. It’s relatively isolated here so we won’t get disturbed. In short, it has everything that we need. There are still areas that we can perfect and we have to give everything for it.

How have the first few days of training been like?

Süle: It’s exhausting and that’s only in part down to the weather! The intensity in our sessions is very high, but that’s the way it should be. There is a lot at stake for us in the second half of the campaign and in order to be successful, we have to establish a high level of concentration from the start.

You mentioned the high temperatures. Have they caused you any problems?

Süle: High temperatures do not affect me. It’s hot, but we know this type of climate from Germany. Our summers can get really hot too. I needed a day to get used to it, but we’ve all acclimatised by now. We just have to make sure to put on enough sun crème and drink enough water and to rest in between our training sessions. Our evening training sessions are fantastic, when the sun has gone down and the wind gives a nice cool breeze. It can’t get much better than that and the conditions are perfect to work really hard.

Apart from two friendlies, you still have plenty more training sessions left during your stay here in Africa. What is the overall goal?

Süle: We have to go full throttle in each training session and place our focus on the basics. We want to improve in tactical areas and rediscover our drive on goal. That’s why these games are important. We want to gather confidence for the restart to the Bundesliga season. We all know what we are playing for in the Bundesliga.

Any wishes for the second half of the season?

Süle: We all want to return to winning ways as a unit. I want to be part of the team that manages to distance itself from the relegation zone as quickly as possible. I know that we have tough opponents in Leverkusen and FC Bayern for our first games, but that doesn’t matter. We have to try and win points wherever we go. I hope that we can have fun again out on the pitch and celebrate success together.