Alexander Nouri: Relaunch with VfB Oldenburg

Persianfootball.com – OLDENBURG, Former Werder Bremen and VfL Osnabrück midfielder Alexander Nouri (33) managed to prevent German 4th division outfit VfB Oldenburg from being relegated. In an interview with the club’s website, the 33 year-old German-Iranian head coach of the Lower Saxony team talked about the current season and his future vision and ideas with the club.

VfB Oldenburg: You managed to keep the team in the league, how do you feel?

Alexander Nouri: I feel well. Since the club showed its confidence in me, we reckoned that the final decision of relegation would take until the last match day. I have always been optimistic and I was positive about the potential of the team. The boys worked hard and have rewarded themselves. Our last match against SV Wilhelmshaven was the prove. Kudos to my team! I’m really proud of them. Of course it’s really helpful that we  can already concrete our personnel planning.

You gave your team a special style of gameplay quit fast. It was also noticeable that some players started to perform better after the change of the manager. How do you explain this?

First of all, it is important to me to mention that also the former coaches Andreas Boll and Frank Neubarth had a great share in the whole campaign. Unfortunately many people forget such facts as we also worked hard together. I demanded courage and passion from my team and it was really helpful that we could draw Holstein Kiel away. With every success, the players rely on the coach and his words.

How will the team change?

It depends on many facts. The management told that they will have to reduce the budget and thereby the possibilities will be limited. We have to see which players are ready to follow our way. They know how we work here and that VfB Oldenburg is highly recognized as a traditional club, which many rivals in the league can’t say about themselves. If a player wants to earn easy money, then he is not at the right place. But we have other things to offer.

Please mention them.

The circumstances here are very good. It starts with the training facilities and the youth center. Also we will install an artificial training field, which will improve the situation during winter. We are also doing a great job in the youth section and we have great supporters. In fact, every game, even away, is like a home match.

On which position do you like to change the team?

I can’t answer this question at the moment. We start talking with our current players and then we will see who wants to stay and who wants to change himself. I’m happy that we have plenty of agreements. We will also have to sign the right players who want to play our style of football.

How does this style of football look like?

It’s my aim that we keep playing with passion and courage like in the last weeks. We play an offensive and hard-running game. We have to refine this type of gameplay tactically. We didn’t have enough time in the past.

The budget cut is a result of a decline of the number of spectators. How can we turn around the drop?

There is no patent remedy, but I learned about our fans to be passionate people and I really like them. If we manage to succeed, I’m full of hope that we can inspire our fans. We just have to awaken the passion. Therefore we have to work hard and I’m sure we will have success again.

Alexander Nouri was born in August 20th, 1979 in Buxtehude/Germany. He played for Werder Bremen, KFC Uerdingen, Vfl Osnabrück, Holstein Kiel and VfB Oldenburg. He also played one year at Seattle Sounders/USA. He started his coaching career as a youth coach at VfB Oldenburg. He was also the assistent coach of VfB Oldenburg until his appointment as head coach in April 2013. Nouri owns a FIFA A licence.