Juventus midfielder Teun Koopmeiners says he wants to be a leader in the team: “To win there is a need for players who take responsibility.” The Dutch international made the move to Turin earlier this year, after a protracted transfer negotiation that took almost the whole summer to complete. Speaking with Tuttosport, he explained why he’s ready to step up in Turin and help the younger players, having joined the club he supported as a child.
You are a young team both in age and in setup. Do you feel that you represent a leader for some of the younger players, someone to pass the ball to if they are in difficulty?
“Yes, I want to be a leader, to win there is a need for players who take responsibility. I was also young and I know what it feels like when you have to give super performances compared to what you are used to. I want to help the young players: I have more experience than them and I must do it.”
At what point are we in the growth process of Motta’s football? In what way are you a different Juventus compared to the very first outings?
“I believe the automatisms have improved. You can’t get them in a day, you can talk for 24 hours but it takes time and practice to make them become natural. Moreover, there are many new players so the growth process is not invented from one moment to the next. And then we talk a lot in training to see what’s best to do, whether the long pass in depth rather than the short offload, it depends on the situations and so it’s normal, the more matches you play the better it will be. When everything happens at speed, we will be more effective and this will be fundamental especially in Champions League matches.”
Does the table reflect your value or, in reality, for what you have shown during the matches, do you deserve more?
“We in Holland are a very realistic people. So even if certain draws have been tight as results, it’s now past. We want to climb the rankings and not stay in sixth place, so we will commit even more to succeed.”
Are you a good person or do you also need to be a bit naughty to play in midfield?
“I consider myself a good person. But in midfield you can’t just make beautiful plays or technical touches, sometimes you need a war-like attitude, a battle attitude. And let’s not forget that then there are moments when, to bring home the three points, you need a less beautiful attitude, but more useful.”
You started your career as a defender. If it were needed for the emergency, would you feel like playing a match at the back?
“Yes, I’ll do it! It would be nice. Three days ago I told my girlfriend: ‘Maybe I should tell Motta that I played for a few years as a left-sided defender’. If Juve were in difficulty I would do it, of course. I want to play in midfield, but if an emergency arose, why not?”
You are in your fourth year in Italy. What has surprised you about our country compared to the image you had of us when you lived in Holland?
“Let’s say that before leaving my country I was a bit worried about all the new things I would have to face. In reality, after a few days I understood that what is said about Italy is all true. It’s very easy to live here. From a question mark it has become an exclamation point.”
If you have half a free day, how do you like to spend it?
“I tour the city, I’m getting to know Turin together with my girlfriend. The last free day I had we went to visit the Royal Palace and then the beautiful garden that is nearby, we had lunch there.”
Do you like to travel?
“Yes, very much, I like it a lot, with Rosa we have traveled a lot, but we haven’t decided yet where we will go next summer: with the Club World Cup it will be even more difficult to fit everything in. We have been to the United States, in many European cities and to Cuba, really a nice experience.”
As a child, besides football, what did you play?
“As a child I practiced all sports, together with my brother. My dad was a gymnastics teacher. He made me practice basketball, baseball, tennis and American football.”
If you have to watch a sport on TV, which one do you choose?
“American football. I root for the San Francisco 49ers. But if I can, I also watch NBA and American baseball.”
Who do you see as favorite for the Scudetto?
“This is a difficult championship to decipher. But it’s still early days, few matches have been played. Inter are strong and has changed very little. Atalanta can enter this fight, they’re a candidate. But also Milan, who went to win at Real Madrid! Juventus? History says that we always try to win, we’ll see. We are a new team with many young players, I think the best choice is to think game by game.”
What is, at the moment, the biggest limit that Juventus has and on which you are working?
“I would say two aspects: improving the automatisms on one side and on the other, reading the different moments of the match in the best way. You don’t always have to play the same way: depending on how the match is going, you must be able to interpret it in the best way.”
Tomorrow is the derby: do you feel the scent of your first goal coming?
“Let’s hope, but it’s not a problem. I want to do it and sooner or later it will come. The most important thing is that Juventus wins. After Lille, I said in the locker room: ‘Guys, I have to score a hat-trick!'”
The players who have impressed you the most among your new teammates?
“There are many quality elements. I must say that Dusan Vlahovic is a total striker: he can shoot hard with his right and left foot, he is physically powerful. He is a 100% professional, you see it in how he trains. Kenan is also great. Yildiz has crazy talent and he’s not even twenty. His sensitivity with the ball at his feet is extraordinary, which allows him to dribble at will. Then Danilo’s charisma is incredible, when he speaks in training you immediately feel that he is a leader. And let’s not talk about the young ones: wearing this shirt at their age is not taken for granted. They are also very strong.”
