Felix Klaus: The Reinvention of a Fortuna Düsseldorf Player
Felix Klaus has been playing for Fortuna Düsseldorf in the 2nd Bundesliga for over two years now, but it was only in the last few weeks that people have started to notice his real potential. According to Klaus, he has reinvented himself, and it’s all thanks to his coach, Daniel Thioune.
Thioune, a former professional footballer himself, seems to have found the right approach to motivate players like Klaus. The 30-year-old winger has nothing but good things to say about his coach. He says, “I get along with him very well. He talks to me a lot and gives feedback on what I need to do better. Even at my age, it’s nice when the coach is behind you.”
Klaus is happy at Fortuna Düsseldorf now, and he feels like he has finally arrived. He admits that he has received a lot of criticism in the past, but he has learned to live with it. “Of course, I accept criticism,” he says. “But often it was over. As a footballer, you have to live with that.”
Even though things did not go as planned for the team in the recent match against Heidenheim, Klaus is still in “anger mode” because they dropped points unnecessarily. “If Rouwen Hennings gets the ball in at the end, or Ao Tanaka somehow pushes it over the line at the end, we’re standing here five points behind and say it’s all possible,” he explains. However, with eight points behind now, the chances of relegation seem almost unreachable.
Nevertheless, Klaus and the team are not giving up. They are attacking again and are determined to win their next match against Rostock on Sunday. Klaus’s reinvention seems to have given him a renewed sense of purpose, and Thioune’s motivational coaching style is proving to be effective. The team may be down, but they are not out yet.
