Former Sunderland Under-21 midfielder Elias Lenz has reflected on his two years on Wearside after being released by the club this summer.
Speaking to BylineCoverage.com
, the former RB Leipzig academy captain opened up on his injury struggles, the support he received at the Academy of Light, why he believes Sunderland’s coaching helped improve his game, and his ambition to return to English football in the future.How would you describe your time at Sunderland, particularly during your injury struggles?
“If I had to describe my time at Sunderland with one word, I would use ‘educational’, because I learned a lot here from the players, the coaches and the people around the club.
“Everybody welcomed me on the first day and was friendly to me all the way through until the end of my two years here. Everybody gave me the support I needed to become better.
“During the time I was able to play football, I think I improved a lot because of the people around me and the coaches as well. I learned so much from them.
“But even during my unfortunate injury, I learned a lot about football – especially that development isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes you have difficult periods, and sometimes everything is going really well.
“Throughout that time, Sunderland supported me really well, both mentally and physically, and I think I developed as a person as well as a player. I learned a lot about what I can do better in the future.
“Overall, even with my serious hamstring injury, I’ll look back on my time at Sunderland and say it was a really helpful chapter in my career. I’ll always look back with a smile, even though not everything went perfectly because of my injuries.”
What did you learn at the academy, and how highly do you rate the facilities and coaching?
“I think the biggest thing I learned from Sunderland was to have a purpose in everything that you do. I think that’s something everybody should know, but I learned to always have that mindset and actually do everything with a purpose, not just say it.
“Football-wise, I learned a lot about playing through the middle, playing forward, playing quickly and, above all, playing with a purpose – not just playing forward for the sake of it, but actually with an idea.
“I learned all of this from some really, really good coaches who helped me during my time here. What was especially impressive was the amount of detail they knew and put into every aspect of my game – my first touch, my movement off the ball, my one-on-one defending and every other action on the pitch.
“They didn’t just tell you to take a better touch – they showed you exactly how to do it. I feel like I learned a lot from that and gained so much confidence.
“Overall, all of the coaching staff were brilliant. From the coaches to the physio team and the kitman, everybody was there for you.
“A big thank you to the physiotherapists, who helped me so much with my rehabilitation. I always felt really secure with them managing my rehab and getting me back to full fitness.
“The same can be said for the facilities. There’s everything you need. There’s a brilliant gym, you can go in the hot tub after training, you can use the ice bath and the pitches are excellent.
“One of the main reasons I came to England was for the quality of the English grass pitches, and they certainly lived up to expectations.
“Overall, I’m really happy with all the facilities and the excellent coaching staff.”
How would you describe English football?
“I would describe English football as direct, straightforward, purpose-driven and, overall, more physical.
“Those are all the things I mentioned before because they’re the things I learned while getting to know English football better.
“That’s why I like English football. It helped me step up my game and experience a different style to the football I played in Germany.
“Overall, English football is much more physical, which means there’s a lot more gym work to do, and I think that helped me improve as a central midfielder as well.
“I personally really like this kind of football because it’s faster and purer. I think that’s really cool.”
What are your next steps in football?
“For my next step in football, I’ll finish my rehabilitation first and then maybe look to go back to Germany.
“I’m speaking to a couple of clubs at the moment, but I definitely hope to play in England again at some point because I really enjoyed my time here and English football.”
