For Marvin Schwäbe, a “childhood dream” came true in the current season, as he said in an interview with the “expressrevealed. The former junior national player only made his debut in the Bundesliga at the age of 26. In recent years he has often changed clubs and only found his way to 1. FC Köln and thus also to the Bundesliga via Danish club Brondby IF There he pushed the longtime keeper Timo Horn onto the bench.
“I’m very happy that things are going in this positive direction for me,” said the 26-year-old, who is aware that he is now being watched more closely: “But of course the eyes are still on you when the previous goalkeeper was the undisputed number one for nine and a half years.” The relationship with his competitor is good and the two “treat each other fairly,” emphasized Schwäbe.
Schwäbe still has a lot planned for 1. FC Köln. When asked whether the “Effzeh” could make it to Europe, he presented himself as ambitious. “It’s like saying: Why not? But we want to get 40 points first,” he said. In view of the past few years, this would also be a considerable improvement in the club’s performance.
Schwäbe on working with Nagelsmann and his role model Neuer
In his youth, Schwäbe was considered highly talented, but did not make it into the Bundesliga for years. When he was still playing for TSG Hoffenheim’s U19s, today’s Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann also relied on Schwäbe. The keeper still raves about the 34-year-old today.
“He was already a great coach back then, both personally and on the pitch,” explained the Cologne professional. Even then, Nagelsmann had “an incredible amount of knowledge” for his age. It speaks for itself “that he led us to the German championship”.
Schwäbe wants to playfully orientate himself towards Manuel Neuer, who is his role model. In his youth he was prepared at his stations to also be strong with the ball at his feet. “In the youth teams of the DFB and also in Hoffenheim, great importance was attached to goalkeeper training, a lot had to happen with the ball – with the right foot and also the weaker left foot,” he said. These experiences “helped him enormously”.