American goalkeeper Zack Steffen believes he has already grown up on the field with the Manchester City club team, although he has only been with the first team for just over two months.
Steffen, 25 years old, has already signed a contract with Man City in July 2019, but has spent the 2019-20 season on credit on the German side of Fortuna Düsseldorf. Steffen has mainly been used this season to support Ederson, but he has supported the club in two EFL Cup victories.
Your goalkeeper coach is very detailed and wants to make me a better goalkeeper, Steffen told reporters for Thursday’s friendly game against Wales. And when I work with these guys day after day, the training, the intensity, the skills and talent and everything that comes with it, I feel like I’m growing.
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When asked which areas were sharp, Steffen emphasized the technical side of his game.
It’s just much more detailed than anything I’ve ever dealt with, whether it’s the position of the hand when you’ve just caught the ball, or a position on a particular kick or a single kick.
There are so many small aspects, of which of course I knew and know the techniques, but I have the feeling that I never had a reason to do this. So I feel like I’m learning new techniques, of course, but [also] why these techniques will help me in the long run.
Steffen’s short stay in town allowed him to see the director of Pep Guardiola nearby. He said that when he got to know the director and staff, he was impressed by what he had seen so far.
I feel that [Guardiola] has a good balance of intense concentration, said Steffen. But with that he brings humour, and he only brings sincerity, and only kindness. So it was cool to see how he worked, how his supervisors worked.
Steffen added that after his time in the Premier League he also noticed an increase in attitude towards players.
He said it was more important to take care of the player. They want us to focus completely on football and they really help us and take care of everything else, whether it’s cars, banks, apartments, family business. Everything is a call, a message, and we really feel comfortable with them.
But next week it will be Steffen’s task to join the American team, which hasn’t played a single game since February, with many first class players being reunited with the American team for the first time in more than a year. The last time Steffen played was on the 15th. October 2019 for the United States with a 2-0 defeat against Canada in CONCACAF.
According to him, the vibrations have been very good so far. Everybody’s happy to be here and everybody’s happy to see each other, to meet each other. The training was short, precise and fast. Of course it is difficult when we have so many new people and not so many training days. But now that we like to play, we enjoy going out on the field every day, learning from each other and seeing what’s really going on.
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