SC Paderborn 07 is listed in 3rd place in the 2nd division after nine match days. One of the guarantors of success is Sven Michel.
On Friday evening, SC Paderborn welcomes SSV Jahn from Regensburg. The third-placed team in the table is hosting the second-placed team. SCP striker Michel has played a big part in making this match a top game.
With eight goals after nine match days, the 31-year-old is joint second on the goalscoring list with Darmstadt’s Phillip Tietz, behind Schalke’s Simon Terodde (eleven goals). “It’s nice when you can compete with a top striker like Simon Terodde,” Michel said in an interview with kicker (current Monday edition, also available as eMagazine).
“If I were a few years younger, I might be even better. “
SVEN MICHEL
Before this season, the striker had scored 19 goals in 64 Second Division games. Now he has added another eight in just nine matches. Michel is not at all surprised by this, however. “I was already in good form at the end of the previous season and scored three goals in the last three games,” said the attacker, who came to the Pader from Cottbus in 2016. “In the summer, I completed a complication-free preparation and am now physically in very good shape. At the moment, everything fits together. And if I were a few years younger, I might be in even better shape. “
Fresh wind after personnel upheaval
Not only he himself, the whole team is in a strong upswing. And Michel also has an explanation for this. “We now have many young players in the team who have never played in the 2nd division before and now want to prove themselves. We had a personnel shake-up in the summer, which brought in a breath of fresh air. And on top of that, we have a new coach.”
Michel describes his relationship with Lukas Kwasniok as “great. The coach is approachable and can laugh at himself. I find both important. If you don’t get along with Lukas Kwasniok, it’s your own fault. For me, he’s a great guy. “