Fritz: "Small details can be decisive"

Clemens Fritz is one of the faces of Werder Bremen – after ten years at the Weser-Stadion, he'll end his career in the summer. He spoke to achtzehn99.de about his retirement, the relegation battle and the important clash on Saturday.

You've announced that you'll retire at the end of the season – do you already have any post-career plans?

Clemens Fritz: Firstly, I'll withdraw for a year or so to reflect on my career. After that, I'll begin a trainee programme at Werder, but I don't know what area that'll be in yet.

Relegation certainly wouldn't be the farewell you'd imagined…

Fritz: Obviously not. We'll do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen. I'm convinced that we'll be able to stay up.

Werder found themselves in a relegation battle last year, as well – what gives you renewed optimism?

Fritz: We can take a lot from our experiences in the past year. A relegation battle is not unchartered territory for us. We battled our way out of it last year with some superb form straight after the winter break. It's no easier this year, but we'll manage it as a team.

Do you have a favourite opponent? Your record against TSG is very good…

Fritz: I don't place much importance on statistics. Every run comes to an end at some point and every record can go the other way. The most important thing is that we're focused until the end of every game and approach each challenge with courage, passion and enthusiasm.

The game on Saturday is huge for both teams with regards to the relegation battle. How nervous are you beforehand?

Fritz: It's obviously an important game, but it won't decide who stays up or goes down. I'm not nervous but I'm obviously very focused. We want to celebrate another win with our fantastic fans.

What role does mentality play in the relegation battle?

Fritz: Everyone certainly has their own thoughts. It's obviously easier to switch off every now and then if you're playing for the European places, but the team is very solid. Everyone knows what we're playing for and we're all fully focused on this task.

What expectations do you have as you go into the game against TSG?

Fritz: Just like in the reverse fixture, it'll be a tight game in which small details can be decisive. We want to be brave and take the three points from the game.

How do you explain the gulf between your form in the league and in the cup?

Fritz: I don't think there's a difference between the league and the cup for us. We've also put in some great performances in the league, and we need to be aware of the fact that we have to go into every game with all we have if we want to be successful. Everything needs to come together. That's happened in the cup very impressively but we still have work to do in the league.