Home » Sport » DFB team: Robin Gosens reckons with football business – “more bad than good people”

DFB team: Robin Gosens reckons with football business – “more bad than good people”


Robin Gosens (left) in the DFB jersey against North Macedonia.

© Jan Huebner / imago-images

At 18, Robin Gosens was still playing in the village and liked to party before the games. Today he is a national player and professional at Atalanta Bergamo. The tz interview.

  • Robin Gosens has a Career path behind, in the modern Soccer is no longer provided.
  • First with 18 years the full-back changed from his Home village to Arnheim speed.
  • Today is Gosens professional in Italy and German National player – and dreams of that IN.

Munich – Robin Gosens is the completely different one National player. Until his 18th birthday, the left-footed player still played in the Lower Rhine League for him VfL Rhede, then a scout from the Dutch club spotted him Arnheim speed – and that after Gosens had partied the night before in the village disco. Gosens finally landed at Arnhem, FC Dordrecht and Heracles Almelo Atalanta Bergamo. The club from Lombardy has developed into a top Italian club in recent years, reaching the knockout phase of twice in a row Champions League. Gosens was convincing as a left winger – so much that the now 26-year-old is now for the DFB-Team runs up.

In his autobiography Dreaming is worth it (published April 8 by Edel Books) Gosens writes about his unusual path to the top floor of football. In the large tz-Interview, the Atalanta professional talks about his EM dream, Young talent centers and an encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo.

DFB star Robin Gosens: He wrote a book because “many things piss him off”

Robin, at the age of 26 there is now a book about your life, your career. How did it come about? What does that do to you?

Gosens: Even when I have the book in hand, it is still incredible to me that I got the chance to write my own life down. I’m a very big fan of books myself – to have one of my own now is gigantic. As the Corona-Lage in Bergamo Has escalated so much in the past year, I had a lot of time – locked in my apartment – to reflect, and obeyed a lot within myself. In advance, I had often received feedback that my path is so extraordinary and that it can sometimes even be an inspiration for other people. During the time of self-reflection I also noticed that I get pissed off at many things in the football business. So why not combine both? Inspire people with my story and write things from my soul that I don’t like.-

In the book you address the fast pace of the media, the tearing out of context. To what extent does a book give you the necessary peace and space to discuss topics in detail and put them in context?

Gosens: In interviews I often have the feeling that you don’t get the platform to express yourself as you want. This creates misunderstandings and takes things out of context. In the book I got the platform to write it down as it burns my soul. At first it is a one-way communication – just my point of view. After the release, however, there will definitely be one or two disadvantages, I am aware of that and that’s perfectly fine.

You last traveled to the German national team in Düsseldorf, with Atalanta before to the game at Real Madrid. How do you feel when you start these trips in Corona times?

Gosens: I still have one very queasy feeling. In general, there is always the ulterior motive that traveling is simply not right at the moment because too much is going wrong in the world. But I also have a positive feeling because I can be one hundred percent sure that we as professional footballers always live in a bubble. That gives me security, but the queasy feeling remains. The joy of one International break I get a little clouded because there are so many rules and restrictions.

When Joachim Löw calls: Robin Gosens is happy “like a little child”

How do you see the role of professional football in times of pandemic?

Gosens: I do think that we professional footballers have an important role in society – even if it’s just distracting people from everyday life. Many just sit at home and are happy when they can distract themselves from it. But I can also understand anyone who says: Why are they allowed – and we are not? We’re flying through world history, leaving the country for a soccer game. On the other hand, people are expected to stay at home as much as possible. I can understand the frustration and will not argue against it. Personally, I am infinitely grateful that I am so privileged and able to do my job.

The pictures from your homeland Bergamo last year were terrible. The city was particularly hard hit by Corona. Do experiences like this help classify football?

Gosens: The lockdown was an intense time in which I had a lot of time to think about myself and the really important things in life. At the time, football was totally unimportant, and rightly so. That time already showed me that soccer is still my dream job, but also that there are things that are much, much more important. For example, that you have your family around you and can move around freely. I’ve come to appreciate the little things in life – like going to a café and having an espresso in the sun. I would definitely like to take this knowledge with me into the future. I believe that it is important for everyone to occasionally listen to how well most of them are actually doing.

You were recently invited to the national team for the fourth time. How does it work today when Joachim Löw contacts you? Do you get used to it?

Gosens: There I am not used to it yet. I am happy every time like a little child. I know in advance of course, but when the squad list is published and I see my name among all these top players, it’s always a moment when I have to pinch myself. I don’t have a horn concert like when I first called Joachim Löw, but the joy is still huge. I hope it never becomes normal for me to get a call directing me to National team invites.-

Robin Gosens (left) stands next to Toni Kroos and listens to the instructions from national coach Joachim Löw (front).

© Marc Schueler / imago-images

Cristiano Ronaldo: This is how Gosen’s first encounter with his childhood idol went

In the book you write about what it was like to meet Toni Kroos and Julian Draxler. Have you ever had to be careful not to have too much respect for a player in your career?

Gosens: Yes, I had that moment. Not with Toni or Julian, but with Cristiano Ronaldo. He is my greatest childhood idol. After he moved to Italy and I went with him Bergamo against you played, we both sat on the bench at first. We were sent to warm up at the same time. At that time I didn’t notice anything around me, I just looked at Ronaldo and adored him. I thought: ‘It can’t be true that I’m warming up with him at the same time and possibly playing against him at the same time.’ That was a moment that I thought about: ‘Robin, yours can do that Childhood idol but you still have to play football right away. You can’t fall into a crush on it. ‘ After that, I tried to focus more on sports. But sometimes I still catch me thinking how surreal it is to be on the pitch with one’s role models.

In the summer – under whatever conditions – the EM is coming up. What would participation mean to you?

Gosens: That would be the ultimate, no question about it. There is nothing bigger than his shirt National team to slip on. And if I have my country with one IN represented, that would really be the final stage. I can still remember how I used to push the guys forward on the fan mile. If you now imagine that you can be out and about in the stadiums as a player, it’s unbelievable.

How do you see your chances?

Gosens: I consider my chance of jumping on the EM train to be realistic. I’ve now shown a consistently high level for two seasons in a row – also in the Champions League. I think I can legitimate hopes make to be there.

I know what it’s like to work at the gas station for five euros.

Robin Gosens on his career path

DFB star Gosens: In football there are “significantly more bad people than good people”

Thomas Müller indirectly motivated you very much during the lockdown, his jersey was hanging in your gaze while you were plowing on the treadmill. How happy would you be if you could contest the EM together?

Gosens: Thomas Müller has a lot for him German football done and is still at a top level. Of course, I don’t see myself in a position to judge whether he’s going to National team should belong or not.-

You have never attended a youth training center, played at home for a long time “in the village”. Was that even beneficial for your development?

Gosens: I think it was essential for me to become a professional in the first place. Without really knowing how it works in an NLZ, I don’t think that I would have become a professional through the NLZ. I’ve always been someone who needed my freedom and didn’t want to be pressed into a certain pattern. As far as I have noticed, the boys in the NLZs are already very much drilled in one direction and prepared for professional business. If you fall through the grid there are you away from the window very quickly. And I probably would have been such a person. I also believe that my path was very important for personal development. I know what it’s like to write applications after graduating from high school. I know what it’s like for five euros to work at the gas station. I can classify many situations much better thanks to my slightly different perspective.

The call for types is getting louder and louder in German football. Isn’t the lack of special players due to the training in NLZs a homemade problem?

Gosens: I think so. Especially in youth it is important to be allowed to make mistakes. Mistakes are very important for personal development. But if you can’t make mistakes because you’re kicked out immediately, slippery players will come out. They don’t offend anywhere with their character, but I think it’s good to offend too. Sometimes I have the feeling that only players are wanted who just do it and don’t question anything. That can become a problem sooner or later.

Looked at the other way around: Perhaps you were missing something because of You have not completed an NLZ? In the book you talk about not having been prepared for business.

Gosens: Of course, it’s not all good that I took this somewhat different path. There is, of course, a downside. In terms of sport, I still have shortcomings in terms of coordination and technique because I was never part of an NLZ. I was also at the beginning of my career a very naive young manwho believed too much in the good in people. Especially in the Soccer business is that a fatal mistake. The guys who were previously prepared for this business had a completely different rip off. I was happy about everything, wanted to please everyone. But I quickly learned that in this business significantly more bad than good people on the road are. For this realization, however, I have paid a lot of hard work.

Interview: Jonas Austermann

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