"I want to be a role model"
"I want to be a role model"
The first two months of this season certainly weren’t the easiest of Per Skjelbred’s now 14-year professional career. After having been a staple in the Hertha team for so long – in fact he has featured the most during Pál Dárdai’s tenure together with Marvin Plattenhardt – the Norwegian suddenly found himself on the fringes. Instead of letting his head drop, he got his head down in training. Now the Norway captain is back in the starting line-up and is his unwavering fighting spirit is testament to why. The assist he got last time out against Freiburg doesn’t do his case any harm either. We had a chat with ‘Schelle’ about his role in the team, the Berlin weather and the upcoming clash with league leaders Borussia Dortmund.
herthabsc.de: Per, autumn has well and truly arrived in Berlin with wind and rain taking over from the sunshine. How do you prepare yourself for the cold months ahead?
Skjelbred: You just have to wrap up warm, then there’s no such thing as bad weather (laughs). But it doesn’t matter whether it’s summer or winter once I’m out on the pitch. I’m only focused on the more important things!
herthabsc.de: We’re in for some exciting weeks ahead with games against Dortmund, Leipzig and Hoffenheim. What’s the recipe for success in these battles against fellow European hopefuls?
Skjelbred: We need to go into each game with the right amount of focus. As always, it will be important to be compact at the back. But we also need to believe in ourselves and our playing style. The good start to the season gives us confidence. We know we can be part of the race for European race, but we can’t afford to take our foot off the gas for a second.
herthabsc.de: There’s a lot of positivity about this team, not least because we’ve had the right balance between defence and attack lately. We’re also proving a lot more difficult for opposition defences to deal with this season
Skjelbred: That’s true. We have more players who can create a chance and score a goal. Vedad Ibišević continues to show why he has been one of the Bundesliga’s best strikers for years now. Ondrej Duda is finally injury-free and is reproducing his brilliance in training when it comes to the big occasion. But there are other players too; our entire attack has been superb so far this year. Hopefully we can carry on in that vein. Maybe some of our defensive players will start scoring soon too – including myself!
herthabsc.de: You weren’t even in the squad for the first few games. The coach said it was one of the most difficult decisions of his career. You’ve now played the full 90 in four of the last five matches. What’s the season been like for you personally so far?
Skjelbred: Everything’s been different to the norm so far this year. I always started the previous seasons as a regular, but I had to be patient this time. I knew that there were plenty of games to come though and a lot can change. I just carried on doing my job for the club in training and in the dressing room, and things have been going my way lately.
herthabsc.de: You’ve been at Hertha since 2014, making over 150 competitive appearances and becoming one of the most experienced players at the club. How do you see your role within the team?
Skjelbred: I hope that, together with the other older players, I can help the youngsters in the team develop. I want to be a role model on the training pitch and someone else needs a helping hand, I’m always there. The lads are doing a great job already though. They only need minor tweaks (grins).
herthabsc.de: We’re up against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday afternoon. Why do you think we can bring a point or more back to the capital?
Skjelbred: We will go into the game with the right amount of respect. Playing in Dortmund is always something special, but we also have confidence to go there and put in a quality performance. If we push ourselves to our limits and Dortmund make mistakes, we need to be ready to capitalise!
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[>]"Everything’s been different to the norm so far this year. I had to be patient."[<]