After six years, Rouwen Hennings left Fortuna Düsseldorf last summer. He moved to Baden-Württemberg, but could have stayed in North Rhine-Westphalia.
When SV Sandhausen face MSV Duisburg on Saturday, the clash pits the league’s ninth-placed team against the 20th-placed team. Before the season, both teams had actually set their sights on a top-three finish.
Sandhausen wanted and wants to return to the German football second division as quickly as possible after spending ten years in the second division. To achieve this goal, the club from Baden-Württemberg also signed some high-caliber players in the summer of 2023.
One of them is Rouwen Hennings, who was most recently the captain of Fortuna Düsseldorf. The 36-year-old played 229 games (84 goals, 28 assists) for Fortuna. The 77-time Bundesliga striker has made 17 competitive appearances and scored eight goals for Sandhausen so far.
Forecasting spoke to Rouwen Hennings before SVS’s game against MSV Duisburg.
Rouwen Hennings, how would you assess SV Sandhausen’s season so far?
I’d describe the current season as mixed. We would have deserved more points in some games.
Why do you think things aren’t going to plan?
If we knew exactly, then we would have already fixed it. Sometimes we don’t defend well and sometimes we don’t take good chances. We know what we have to work on.
There has already been a change of coach: you have been in the business for a long time too. When there is a change in this position, who actually “failed” more: the coach or the team?
“Failure” is a strong word, of course. We’re all not happy with what we’ve done so far. Coach Danny Galm tried everything, but as a team we just lacked that last bit of luck.
What does Jens Keller do differently from his predecessor?
Both have their ideas about football. As a coach, Jens Keller communicates them a bit louder and demands them a bit more energetically than Danny Galm did.
Yes, I also talked to Essen. But there were several reasons why it didn’t work out. I’m not crying over RWE and I’m happy to be at SV Sandhausen now.
Rouwen Hennings
You’ve had a decent run of form – eight assists in 13 games is an impressive tally, wouldn’t you say?
Eight assists is okay. But I hope that I can help the team a lot more in the future.
What kind of goal return have you set yourself for this season?
I set myself a goal return target once in my career, and it went badly (laughs). That’s why I don’t do it anymore.
Why did you actually choose SV Sandhausen?
I chose Sandhausen because the overall package was best for me. I’m not far from my family and everything is good for me here.
According to our information, you were also in talks with Rot-Weiss Essen. Why didn’t the move to Essen go through? You could have stayed in North Rhine-Westphalia with your family…
Yes, I was also in talks with Essen. But there were several reasons why it didn’t work out. I’m not crying over RWE and I’m happy to be at SV Sandhausen now.
Your next opponents are a club from North Rhine-Westphalia. How surprised are you by MSV Duisburg’s league position?
I’m too far away to be able to analyze MSV’s league position. Of course, I’ve known the club for a long time. We’ve also played each other in the second division. I wish MSV all the best, but not until after the game against us.
Why is MSV still a dangerous opponent for Sandhausen?
They are a dangerous opponent because they have many strong players in their ranks. They have not yet found each other. I hope that won’t be the case on Saturday either.
Do you think that MSV will save themselves in the end?
Of course, they still have the opportunity. But they are also in a very dangerous situation because the league is at a very good level.