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Andreas Hinkel: I'd Rather Win SPL Than German Squad
Place
By Gordon Parks
ANDREAS HINKEL last night insisted he's not using Celtic as a platform
to grab a place in Germany's Euro 2008 squad.
The former Sevilla defender rejected claims he moved to Glasgow from Spain
to regain his international spot and says he's more interested in lifting
an SPL winner's medal.
After returning from an injury which hampered his start to life at Parkhead,
the full back is gearing up to show the fans why Gordon Strachan lured
him from La Liga.
He said: "Many journalists wrote that the reason I came to Celtic
was so I could go to Euro 2008 but that's not true.
"I didn't say that and I know it will be hard to get in the squad
in such a short time. I said that if I play here week after week then
I'll have a chance of getting into the Germany team.
"But the main thing for me is that I play good football for Celtic
and produce good performances for the club - and hopefully help us win
the league."
The German is all to aware of the weight of expectation which goes hand-in-hand
with a move to the SPL champions but he believes he's well equipped to
cope with the demands.
He said: "In Spain Sevilla are a big club but there are a lot more
successful teams. However in Scotland, Celtic are the biggest along with
Rangers.
"It's normal here that you have to win. In Scotland the Old Firm
are the big clubs and they have to be challenging for trophies every season.
"In Spain I suppose I was in a similar situation for two years. At
Sevilla we won five cups and still had a chance of winning La Liga title
up until the last game so that brought expectation.
"So I have experienced going for titles and being expected to win
all the time but at Celtic things are slightly different.
"The pressure here must be very similar to what Real Madrid and Bayern
Munich feel every season."
As Celtic attempt to claw back the four-point lead which Rangers enjoy
over them in the SPL title race Hinkel is well aware of the magnitude
of the challenge that lies ahead.
He said: "Normally Celtic have the best team and if you look man
for man we will almost always be stronger than the opposition, that doesn't
mean it's easy though.
"When teams come to play us they are very organised set themselves
up defensively, which is understandable. They try to make the game hard
and we have to cope with that.
"This season we are behind Rangers but there are still 14 games to
go and so much can happen. There are three derby games to come and they
will be vital."
Although he's only been at Parkhead for eight weeks, Hinkel has seen enough
of Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady to rate the wide pair as major
players in the Hoops armoury.
He said: "Naka is a very good player, technically he is beautiful
to watch. His free-kicks are fantastic but he's very safe on the ball
and is a vital player for us.
"He's always available for a pass, he takes the ball and he keeps
it and will always look to give you it back so we can help each other.
"Naka is completely different to Aiden on the other side, who is
always running at players. But it's good to have that variation in style
from the wide midfielders.
"You need to have different players in your team, Aiden
is very young and will always take the ball to go one-on-one with defenders.
"To have someone who will take the ball and run with it for 90 minutes
is good. He's completely different from Naka but it's good to have that
contrast."
Hinkel is settling into his new environment but he admits there are major
differences in the standard of pitches from what he was used to in Spain.
He has, however, been bowled over by the Celtic's new training complex
in Lennoxtown.
He said: "I want to get better and understand everything. There are
differences and it's good for me to know this and learn about the game
here.
"In the first half against Aberdeen I had to learn that it's different
football. I always want to play football but sometimes I had to just clear
the ball and say, 'see you later'. It's no problem and it's normal that
football is different in every country.
"Of course, it's the same game. It's 11 versus 11, but the style
is different. In Spain the pitches are better and it's easier to pass
and to keep the ball.
"After my injury it was hard to come straight back into the team.
Then it was a case of learning that sometimes it's not possible to play
passes.
"I like it here, I like the club's new training centre because it's
very professional.
In Spain we didn't have a facility like Lennoxtown. The pitches were excellent.
But the dressing rooms were old and nowhere near as good as Celtic's.
"For a player, it's good to have these facilities as it will help
me improve. I can train here, inside and outside, I can eat here and we
can work on technical things.
"The manager has added more players in the winter, five in all, and
we need to get used to what he wants.
"All coaches have different ideas. They want to play in a certain
way and will ask you to do specific things.
"The new players are getting to know more about that all the time."
dailyrecord.co.uk,
Feb 21 2008
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