Moritz Volz is delighted to have the opportunity to test himself in the Premier League this season – and says this weekend’s trip to Everton is exactly why he decided to move to Fulham.
The German full back moved across London on loan from Arsenal last month and showed himself up to the challenge of competing in the top flight with a determined debut against Middlesbrough last weekend. Volz told Fulham’s official website earlier this afternoon:
“The most important thing for a professional footballer is to play first team football every week. There are always people who are going to be squad players and not play many games, but I need to play. It’s very hard to come through at a club like Arsenal – I’m not saying it’s not possible, but for me it’s important to play, and I can do that here at Fulham. The match at Everton is exactly why I’m here – it will be a big crowd and a great occasion, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
I’ve been very impressed with all the facilities here. It’s a very friendly club and there’s a great atmosphere. I’ve got nothing but positive impressions about the club. It wasn’t a difficult decision for me – I was hoping very much that the move would happen. Arsene Wenger and I had agreed that I would go out on loan again, and the fact that Fulham were a Premiership team made it a very exciting prospect.
I was really, really looking forward to the move, and there were two days when I knew that Fulham were interested but it hadn’t been agreed, and I was really hoping that it was going to be Fulham. I was at Wimbledon for two months last season. It was for one month originally, but it went really well and the clubs and I agreed that we would do another month. I really loved it, playing every week, playing for points and being under pressure – it helped me a lot. There were a lot of clubs interested in me this time, but Fulham were the club I was after.
You’re never sure what quite to expect from the first game. But I think it went quite well. I was pleased with my performance, but I know I can do better and I would say it’s a good base for us to work from. As a defence we’ve only played one game together, and there’s still a lot we can improve on and hopefully we can adapt very quickly to each other. As a defender you’re never happy to concede two goals, and that’s what we’ll work on.
I think we’re a team that will always get a goal from somewhere because we’ve got quality up front, and we’ve got people that can create a goal out of nothing. So it’s important that we get things very tight at the back. It was a great game to take part in – it was up and down and was never going to be boring – although I would want us to be a bit more organised. But it’s early on in the season and it will take a few games to settle in, but I would say that if we did a few things that weren’t very good on Saturday, there were a lot of things that we did very well.”
Volz knows Fulham will be need to be at their best to get anything from this weekend’s trip to Goodison Park.
“It’s important to start well and that’s we did on Saturday. We’ve got three points in the bag and with three away games coming up we’ll be looking to get something from all those games. We’re certainly not going to Everton to get beaten because we fancy our chances.
I think they are a very solid, organised team that play mainly through the middle rather than down the flanks. They are very hard working and have a very good spirit – and I think that’s what this team is based on as well as having some very good players. So it’s certainly not going to be easy, but no game in the Premiership is easy.
Everyone is talking about Wayne Rooney of course, and he’s a great talent – I wish I could have been playing in the Premiership at his age. But I’m just looking forward to the match – it will be my first Premiership away game and I haven’t experienced the difference between home and away games yet, so it will be very interesting for me.”
