Mario Götze has learned a lot from the collaboration with Roger Schmidt. The PSV attacking midfielder has worked with top trainers such as Josep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp in the past, and his career path is largely determined by his connection with trainers. For example, the arrival of Schmidt played an important role in Götze’s decision to move to PSV in 2020. According to the veteran, Schmidt is “even more extreme” than Pep Guardiola.
Götze had his second contract with Dortmund between 2016 and 2020, before switching to PSV. “At Dortmund I had four different trainers in four years,” he says in the podcast kicker meets DAZN on Thomas Tuchel, Peter Bosz, Peter Stöger and Lucien Favre. “That was not pleasant for me as a player. We only won the cup in that period, which is quite meager.”
Gotze had internal discussions with Favre in his last season at Dortmund, who had lost confidence in the attacking midfielder. Götze later revealed in interviews what those conversations were about: Favre said he had ‘no position’ in the team for him. “I thought that was nonsense and sounded like an apology,” Götze said later. He also criticized the club’s lack of a “performance culture” and felt “no longer relevant” under Favre.
In the podcast, Götze says that his criticism was not appreciated. “They wanted me to be a bit quieter. I also wanted to discover a new competition,” he explains his surprising choice for PSV. “That’s why it was a good step for me, especially because I started working with a German coach and other German players. It was a positive step. A transfer within the Bundesliga was also possible, but the coach’s plans were important to me. “
Under the direction of Schmidt, Götze regularly plays again. So far, he has recorded 74 official matches for PSV. “He helped me a lot,” Götze says about Schmidt. “It was interesting to see how he made the RB concept part of his philosophy, how he leads the training sessions and how he wants to play football. Putting the pressure, defending forward, playing in the opponent’s half if possible: that’s what I did. learned a lot from Roger is even more extreme than Pep†
Gotze worked with Guardiola at Bayern Munich. “I had certain expectations after his period at Barcelona and he more than fulfilled them,” he says about the Spanish top trainer. “He implemented a performance culture in the training sessions as well as the games. That was very good for the club, but also very tiring. Kloppo (Götze worked in his first period at Borussia Dortmund with Jürgen Klopp, ed.). At this level, that’s necessary.”
PSV wants to thwart Schmidt’s plans and is fully committed to Götze .’s longer stay
PSV is going for a longer stay from Mario Götze.
Götze is under contract with PSV until mid-2024. According to reports from A Bola Schmidt would like to take him to Benfica, but it Eindhovens Dagblad and Football International wrote on Tuesday that PSV is committed to a longer stay for the German. Götze himself does not seem to have made any future decisions yet. “I don’t have a medium or long-term plan. Football is too dynamic and complex for that. But my idea is to play in Europe for as long as possible and have fun. Then I might go to the United States. That would be nice to be.”