Ahead of Sunday’s home game against FC Augsburg (18:00 CET kick-off), the winger revealed this and more in a club interview.

scfreiburg.com: Roland, a few days have passed now since the 1-0 defeat in Mainz. How many times have you re-watched your shots against the woodwork in this time? 

Roland Sallai: The defeat really hurt. We’d already lost to Mainz in the reverse fixture this season, so we were even more desperate to beat them away. Now we’ve ended up losing to them twice in one season and dropping six points. Obviously I was unlucky myself as well, not just when I hit the post and crossbar, but I also had a really good chance in the first half when Vince Grifo played me in. I just need to improve in those situations.

How do you mean? Is hitting the post and/or crossbar not more down to bad luck than anything else?

Obviously it’s a bit about luck when it comes down to centimetres, but I am convinced that I can turn these chances into goals in future Bundesliga games, if I just work on it more in training. 

How frustrated are you that it didn’t work out in Mainz?

We were all sad after the game, but it’s in the past now. We’ve had a look at some things in our video analysis as well since then – on Sunday we have our next game.

What did everyone learn from the video analysis?

We had a game plan, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to implement it. We didn’t really create a lot of chances – that has to change.

You signed a contract extension about a week ago. What makes Roland Sallai and SC Freiburg such a perfect match?

Even though I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs with injuries, I have particularly fond memories of all the wonderful moments I’ve experienced with the team. This has been my best season at Freiburg so far on a personal level, which is why I’m very happy to have extended my contract.

How have you developed here as a player?

I think my game has become a lot clearer. When I think back to my first year here: I wanted to do everything by myself, I was often too greedy, didn’t pass the ball and ended up running out of energy later on in the game. This season it’s been much better and that has started to show with five goals and four assists to my name. I need to keep doing this. 

What goals have you set for yourself for your next chapter with the club?

The most important thing is always to keep helping the team, scoring goals, setting goals up. Then I hope we can finally play in front of our supporters again when we’re in the new stadium. I’m really looking forward to that.

You know the club, you’re familiar with your surroundings here and you’ve got to know the city very well. Are there any German characteristics or traditions that you’ve picked up over the years and have perhaps grown to love?

I would describe Germany as my second home now, I feel right at home in Freiburg, the city is lovely and my teammates are amazing. We’re a bit like a family – I haven’t had this before. I also like the mentality here that you see before and after training, and the importance of recuperating. I wasn’t aware of this before I came here.

And is there anything 'typically German' that you can’t quite warm to?  

(laughs) It actually reminds me of soldiers sometimes when I see German discipline in action. For example: Punctuality. If I was a bit late to training or something when I played in Italy or Cyprus, then it wasn’t a problem. But if I’m even one or two minutes late here, it is a problem. And everything is so neat here: Where we fold our clothes away, the towels, our shoes. That was very different in other countries. There is a fines system in place here as well, so it can quickly get very expensive.

Back to football: On Sunday we welcome FC Augsburg to the Schwarzwald-Stadion. Anything come to mind about Augsburg for you?

Augsburg are a really strong and tough team. We obviously watched their win against Gladbach last week. It will definitely be difficult, but we know we just need to show what we can do on Sunday.

Photo: Achim Keller