interview
Patrick Mainka is the captain of 1. FC Heidenheim. The defense chief speaks to SWR Sport about the preparations of the FCH and the living dream of promotion to the Bundesliga.
SWR Sport: 1. FC Heidenheim is about to start its first year in the German football league. The team has been preparing for the “Bundesliga adventure” for almost two weeks. “Adventure Bundesliga”, can you still hear these word creations?
Patrick Mainka: Yes, definitely, because it really is an adventure. And it’s still not really feasible what we did there. And I actually believe that that will only happen when we really play in the Bundesliga and then on the first matchdays you realize, ‘Oh, maybe that’s something different’. And because of that: Yes, it still just sounds good.
Your trainer Frank Schmidt said at the start of training: “It’s like before a math test. “I think it’s important to be nervous. Then, when it starts, I know that I’m well prepared and that I’ll get a good grade at the end”. Is he right with this image of the math work? Does that fit?
Yes, in any case. I think that a basic level of nervousness is always part of staying focused, in order to be concentrated. I think that when we’re on the field, it’s the wrong advice to be nervous, because then we probably won’t get anything in the Bundesliga. The coach is always way ahead with the comparisons and with the puns, he gets to the point very concretely.
What has always made FCH special, you said that yourself in an interview on SWR Sport a few weeks ago, was the cohesion in the team. You were the captain last season, so you always have a very special look at that. How and where do you feel this spirit, this cohesion, in the previous training sessions?
First of all you have to say that of course one or two players left and one or two new ones came. It’s always been the case with us that it’s relatively quick to integrate people. And of course a training camp like the one we have right at the beginning is good. Because you’re on top of each other 24/7. That then develops over the course of a season, after preparation. We’ve always managed that well, because we actually know that it’s all about it. Everyone knows that. Then everyone does everything for that. And of course it’s much more fun to celebrate together.
Stability and continuity have been Heidenheim’s secrets of success for years. This is also reflected in the coach Frank Schmidt. Has the coach approached the current preparation differently than the last preparations in the 2nd league?
I think it would be the wrong advice to somehow turn the whole thing upside down. Because that’s what sets us apart, this continuity and the way we play football. He brought us to where we are. In the end it’s still the same game. The quality will probably be significantly higher in the Bundesliga. But it’s still the same game, and our way of playing it remains the same. It’s not like we have to do anything great differently now. We just have to make sure that we add a little something in our own way so that we can then collect the points. I think the coach knows that too. It wouldn’t suit us and him, that doesn’t make any sense from our point of view either.
Let’s talk to you personally: you’ve been with the club for a long time, you came from Borussia Dortmund in 2018. Was this move the career boost you needed?
Yes, one hundred percent. I’ve now achieved what you dream of as a child, promotion to the Bundesliga. 2018 when I came I thought. ‘Okay, let’s see what’s going on in the second division’. Whether I can assert myself or not, I had a two-year contract. I noticed relatively quickly that it works quite well. And I would say in retrospect you can actually say that I did everything right with the change back then.
You were used in the second team at BVB and also played for Werder Bremen in the B youth team. Are you still in contact with the players from back then or with those responsible who are now also involved with the BVB or Werder Bundesliga teams?
Regular contact is overstated. Sure, BVB in the U23s, if you look at the kit managers or the staff themselves, then there isn’t as much fluctuation as there might be in the team itself. And it’s the same in Bremen. Of course I’m really looking forward to these two games.
That’s exactly what I was about to ask: Dortmund vs. Heidenheim, third match day, Friday evening, September 3rd, 8:30 p.m., floodlights, 81,000 in the stadium… is it tingling?
The way they say it: that’s madness. So you can’t even imagine that. It’s an absolute highlight game, although I say every Bundesliga game will be a highlight for me. But floodlights, 8:30 p.m., the full Signal Iduna Park, where I have often been as a spectator. This is just a dream.
And you, as a defender, also have to deal with better strikers than you have had in your career so far. Which duel are you most looking forward to?
There is no specific one now. But I’m curious to see how the strikers act, with a different quality of course. But I still say: With my BVB past I have a lot of respect for the path that Sebastian Haller has taken. I’m just happy that he can stand with me on the pitch with his life story and that I can be his opponent. I’m really looking forward to that.