Kevin Schade on what makes Freiburg so good this season

bundesliga.com sat down with the athletically gifted youngster for an early stock-take on his career so far...

bundesliga.com: Everyone is heaping praise on Freiburg and you’re the main man when it comes to scoring goals. That’s a huge story for a young man who has only just turned 21. How do you see these first seven months of your Bundesliga career, which are flying by at an incredible pace?

Kevin Schade: “I never thought it would go this quickly, of course. I wanted to use this year to settle in, that happened quicker than I thought. Of course, I’m not complaining, it’s going well, not just for me, but for the whole team. Long may it continue.”

bundesliga.com: You were in the youth teams at Babelsberg, Cottbus, and the U19s at Freiburg, then you were thrown into the spotlight of professional football. Your career has really taken off, how do you deal with that, because it’s not really an everyday occurrence?

Schade: “I’m dealing with it well, I don’t really think about it in my free time. I have no idea what’s being said. Sometimes people send me things and I have a look. I’ve managed so far, because I am the way I am, I don’t need to change. It’s always been my dream to be a professional footballer here in Germany, and to have achieved that so soon is something special and I’m proud of that. When I think about my development, U19s with Freiburg, I played in the reserves last year when we got promoted to the third division. That’s all made an impression, it’s good that it’s happened the way it has.”

bundesliga.com: You have a lot of valuable qualities and a huge amount of talent – your pace stands out among all of those, the same top speed as Alphonso Davies! Do you have an official 100-metre time?

Schade: “In the team here we often have exercises where we reach our top speed, not over 100 metres though. I hit my top speed in training of 36.2, I think, and in a game, something similar.”

bundesliga.com: Why didn’t you become a track and field athlete, you could have left your opponents in the dust? 

Schade: “No, these are things I really enjoyed doing in PE, not in a club though. I’ve played football from the start. It was always the most enjoyable, so I always played football. I played a lot of other sports but I always enjoyed football the most.”

bundesliga.com: When you know that, in theory, you can outpace any opposition player, that’s a huge competitive advantage isn’t it?

Schade: “Definitely, I think it doesn’t matter how badly you’re performing, you can have a bad day, but you’ve always got your pace. That’s something nobody can take away from you, I’ve always been this fast. When I play against slower players they have to approach it differently to when they play against normal opponents. It’s a huge advantage and it gives me self-confidence.”

bundesliga.com: Your coach, Christian Streich, refers to your pace as a weapon, on top of that you have an exceptional leap. Your U21 coach, Toni Di Salvo, affectionately calls you ‘our Air Jordan’. How much do you enjoy these compliments?

Schade: “Of course, I like to hear things like that but I don’t get carried away. It’s not like I don’t know what I have, I do. I also know that a lot of people like that too. I hear things like that, I’m happy for a moment, but it’s not like I’m thinking about it every day.”

bundesliga.com: A lot of what you do reminds us of Karim Adeyemi. Nobody was really paying him any attention, then he was surprisingly called up to the U21 European Championships, was by far the fastest player of the tournament there, extremely deadly in front of goal, and is now being looked at by some top clubs because he's a European champion. Are you also reaching for the stars in the same way?

Schade: “Definitely, it’s always good to have targets, whether they are short-term, medium-term, or long-term. When I was young I wanted to be a Bundesliga player. Targets are important to keep you focussed when it’s going well or when it’s going badly. I tend to think about short-term targets rather than long term.”

bundesliga.com: What targets do you have for your career?

Schade: “I want to win the World Cup, and the Champions League - the same as everyone.”

bundesliga.com: How much of a stroke of luck was it for you to be signed from Cottbus by Freiburg of all clubs, the club which has the biggest pathway from the youth team to the first team in the Bundesliga?

Schade: “We took that into consideration when I moved here. I knew the work with the young players was superb and, not that there’s a better chance to make it as a professional here, but it’s possible, and the club would be good for me because of the philosophy and the mentality. We had that as a plan, I had that planned out with the club, and if everything goes well, I perform well, then it’s possible for me to make it here.”

Watch: Freiburg laying foundations for the future

bundesliga.com: You’ve scored three goals in the Bundesliga so far, the first against Gladbach in the incredible 6-0 win, the second in the 2-1 win against Leverkusen and number three in the 2-0 win against Stuttgart, so you’re always on the winning team when you score, Schade, the goalscorer…

Schade: “Scoring goals is the best feeling in the world. Against Gladbach it was more of a relief because it was the most short-term target that I had. That started things off. You then play with a bit more freedom than before. Against Leverkusen, 2-1 in the last minute. It’s a great feeling when everyone comes to you and celebrates, because you’ve scored the goal.”

bundesliga.com: Freiburg have been in the top third of the table for months now, that means Europe is calling! What makes your team so strong?

Schade: “Good question! It’s definitely down to the team, almost everyone stayed, they aren’t just teammates, but friends too. Everyone is pulling in the same direction and everyone is pulling their weight. For the new players too, like [Maximilian] Eggestein, they haven’t needed long to settle in. After the game against Dortmund when we bounced back straight away and played so well against Hoffenheim and Stuttgart. That was important, also to win the close games, and not draw them or even lose them. They are all things which make small differences but set us off in the right direction.”

bundesliga.com: The outstanding place to play football, Freiburg, differs significantly from other Bundesliga clubs. You've experienced the club and the city from close up for a number of years so you must have built up a pretty good picture of the place, what makes Freiburg special for you?

Schade: “The calmness of the place is a big factor. When you see fans in the city the most they ask for is a quick photo then it’s done. I can imagine you could get pestered in a bigger city and not want to go out. In Freiburg you can go out when you want to go out. You’re not pestered, it’s pretty relaxed, there’s not much going on. I think that’s important for players’ development. There aren’t any distractions. You can concentrate fully on football.”

bundesliga.com: Freiburg pay special attention to the character of a player before they sign and only buy players who fit the culture of the team - is that also a reason for their success?

Schade: “Definitely. If you come to Freiburg you’ll be nurtured here. When I was 19 I got up to all sorts but as you get older, that stops. When you get to this level you realise you have to be professional, calm down, watch how the other players behave, the older players, experienced players like Güni [Christian Günter], [Vincenzo] Grifo, [Nils] Petersen, you do adapt to that.”

bundesliga.com: Your next game is against Cologne, another club who have positively surprised a few this season. Why are the so-called “small” clubs playing so well this season? Union Berlin, Freiburg, Mainz, even Bochum…

Schade: “I think they’re playing with more freedom than the teams who have the pressure of having to achieve something. You have to be honest and say it’s then easier for these so-called “small teams”, mentality-wise. Maybe it’s not so bad, or you don’t find yourselves in a crisis, if you lose a game, like others maybe do. I can imagine that’s the reason. If you’re then in form, you can keep it going longer, stay calm and still keep going. I think that’s the reason.”

Watch: It was honours even last time Freiburg met Cologne

bundesliga.com: Your former coach from the youth team at Cottbus said about you: ‘Kevin was the type of player who would encourage others to get up to mischief but never got caught himself’. Were you too fast for the others?

Schade: “I was just too clever! It wasn’t as black and white as that though, I did encourage others but I got up to mischief myself as well, but I didn’t get caught very often, although the others didn’t snitch, and when I got caught I didn’t snitch either! They are things which can also define a team, not just in Cottbus but also in Freiburg. If something happens then you don’t go telling everybody or snitching, you have to be able to trust each other.”

bundesliga.com: Playing Streiche (pranks) or playing under Streich?

Schade: “What do you mean? [laughs] Playing under Streich!”

bundesliga.com: Air Jordan or Usain Bolt?

Schade: “Usain Bolt, I think it’s better to be fast than be able to jump high. But I wouldn’t say no to either.”

bundesliga.com: Your home city and Royal Residence Potsdam or Black Forest flair in Freiburg?

Schade: “Potsdam, I’m at home there.”

bundesliga.com: Super-fast development or more patient, continuous development?

Schade: “Patience, definitely. You can see I’ve extended my contract here, it’s important to stay at this level and not develop really fast then drop off.”