Michael Gregoritsch: I can bring my strengths back to the pitch for Schalke

Michael, the most important question to kick things off with: How are you and your friends and family doing?

We’re doing well, thanks a lot.

After self-isolation and virtual training from home, you have been allowed recently to train in small groups on the pitch. How much did you miss the pitch while you were at home?

I’m very happy to be back on the pitch, as I missed it so much. Running at home, or in the forest or down the road is never fun when you have to do it a lot. It’s definitely better to train here with the lads – of course, with the required distance between us that is – than to train at home.

Apparently the training schedule you were on while you were working from home was very tiring.

Yeah, it was. But it was completely fine for us, because we were full of energy and were geared towards finishing the season as normal. So it was no problem for us to get up and train hard, because we were in that season mindset, and it wasn’t like starting training after several weeks of holiday.

How have you kept in touch with your teammates and the club staff during your self-isolation?

We communicated with the staff via WhatsApp and were always informed through WhatsApp. Of course we also kept in touch with each other as well.

What else did you do in your spare time at home?

I started learning Spanish again, read a few books and cooked a lot. Now I’m happy that we can train again and go out at least once a day.

The European Championships have been postponed by a year. What are your thoughts on that?

It’s a good thing that it was postponed and not cancelled, because it would be my first big tournament, and I really want to be there. I really hope that it can take place next year.

After a good start to the second half of the season, it didn’t go to plan for you and the rest of the team before the break in the season. How excited are you to show off your skills on the pitch again?

We are all very motivated. Everyone wants to show what they can do on the pitch again, We are really looking forward to it again. Then we need to give it our all again so that we can achieve our goals.

Have you thought of a possible reason for the downturn in form the team suffered before the break?

Maybe we wanted it a bit too much and put ourselves under a bit too much pressure. After a great first half of the season I joined a side that was working super well together. After you get a couple of bad results in a row you quickly slip into a negative mindset and question your performances, so the earlier good results no longer seem possible.

You also wanted to use your loan to Schalke as a chance to prove your abilities again. How annoying is it for you that football has been at a standstill for so long?

The season is paused and thankfully is not over yet. I am in good spirits that it will start again soon and I can bring my strengths back to the pitch for Schalke.. Then I will keep moving forward.