He is one of the supports at MT Melsungen: The Hungarian Adrian Sipos speaks about the title chances of the MT before the final and the “final” for the championship in Berlin. And he tells of the goulash team meeting during the week.
Adrian Sipos is the rock in the surf with the handball Bundesliga club MT Melsungen. In the interview, he talks about team trips in Mallorca, the balance in the duels and the team’s title opportunities. Melsungen plays Next Saturday in Hamburg in the semi -finals of the European League Against Flensburg (3 p.m.), the final takes place on Sunday. Just four days later, the duel with the Füchsen Berlin is a preliminary game for the German championship.
hessenschau.de: Adrian Sipos, on Tuesday you threw a big team party. How did it come about?
Adrian Sipos: When I arrived in Melsungen two years ago, I had promised that I would organize a big barbecue with me. Unfortunately it took a little while to have enough space. Now on Tuesday I did the best Hungarian goulash on two pots and almost the entire team was there.
hessenschau.de: The team seems to do a lot together …
Sipos: I heard that it wasn’t that before. But since I am here, we have always been traveling together, be it for lunch or just drinking coffee. It helps if you know your teammates well and get on with them. I also believe that in the game one works even more for the other. So: This is certainly a key to our success.
Hessenschau.de: Timo Kastening recently highlighted the trip together to Mallorca. Who are the “Party Animals” in the team?
Sipos: (laughs.) Timo is certainly among the first three, at that time Julius Kühn was also a safe bank. But everyone did quite well. You know: what happens in Mallorca stays there.
hessenschau.de: For athletic: on this point you also had a lot of reason to celebrate. On Monday the seventh league victory in a row. What is the team doing so determined and determined?
Sipos: More and more players come back from the injuries, so we have a better selection and power. We were also particularly motivated for the game against Wetzlar because it was a derby and because we had lost our home nimbus against the HSG last year. That shouldn’t happen this time.
hessenschau.de: You address the many injuries. Despite a bandaged wrist, they almost played through the only symptom -free. What do you do better than your colleagues?
Sipos: (laughs.) That is a good question. I do not know it either. This year I hardly had any free through the World Cup and Olympics, but I was fine. The tape on the hand is actually only for safety reasons. In my symptom -free season, a mixture of prevention and happiness probably plays a role.
hessenschau.de: Is it true that the injury topic was taboo in the cabin?
Sipos: Yes. If you want to cook something at home, then you sometimes have to take ingredients in the closet. Lamenting nothing. Self -pity would only have cost us strength.
hessenschau.de: After the injury -related failure of Nebojsa Simic, the MT now brought another Hungarian keeper: Laszlo Bartucz.
Sipos: Simo was one of the top three-goalkeepers in the league, we will miss him very much. Adam does it great, but he also works in summer. With Kristof (Palasics) we got a young man who can belong in the future in European handball. Laszlo is my age, we played together in the youth teams. He is very relaxed and will help us with his experience. It will be an advantage for us at MT that they also form the duo in the Hungarian national team. But of course they have a lot of pressure because I put the bar as high as Hungarian (laughs.).
hessenschau.de: You are something like the bouncer in the best defense of the league. What distinguishes the MT on the defensive?
Sipos: We know the processes very well and prepare for the opponents conscientiously. It looked even better in the first half of the season because we remained below 30 goals per game very often. Both at the back and front, it helps our services that we can play overall without pressure.
hessenschau.de: You always walk on the edge of the two-minute penalty. How do you create the balance between aggressiveness and a tough game?
Sipos: It is difficult. Of course I try a lot of blocks, but we’re talking about the strongest league in the world, so we also talk about an enormous pace. There is a lot of action in the middle, there is a lot of action. In addition, due to the new rules, some players go to the ground faster and stay there longer. It has certainly not become easier for the referees.
hessenschau.de: On Saturday the EHF final Four against Flensburg will take place. Does it play a role that both teams have met twice in the league and once in the cup?
Sipos: We know each other, that’s right. Flensburg is a big name that is known to everyone in handball. One should not forget that we are still developing. Of course we have great quality, but not yet so much experience in these final games. So I recommend seeing it like this: We also have much less pressure than Flensburg.
hessenschau.de: Your board member Michael Allendorf said: ‘We want to become a master!’ What do you say? Is even the double in it?
Sipos: Who doesn’t want to become a master?! When I came here, I said that I wanted to get medals. I already have two from the trophy, more should follow. We just shouldn’t forget that many teams want to win these titles. In the championship, the outstanding game is pending in Berlin, but in principle we only have end games for the title anyway. So it is important to just talk about the next weekend.
hessenschau.de: What do you expect?
Sipos: I expect a full hall, a great atmosphere and a good performance. And I hope that we will go back to Melsungen with the trophy on the bus.
The conversation led Ron Ulrich.
