In interview with bayer04.de, the 22-year-old talked about his own impressive development, interaction with his teammates on and off the pitch plus his role as en 'enforcer'.
Odi, with three wins in three games we can talk about a successful start to the season. What do you think are the reasons for that?
Kossounou: I think we have a different mentality this season. We are really on it and that's why our game is better. That process started in the pre-season and now we can see the result in the league. Everybody is performing well individually but, above all, also as a team. That gives us confidence.
How do you assess your development since your move to Leverkusen in the summer of 2021 and in which areas do you think you have made the biggest progress in?
Kossounou: There's a huge difference between the Belgian league and the Bundesliga. When I came here,I mainly needed to improve in the tactical area. Gerardo (Seoane, ed.) and Xabi (Alonso, ed.) both worked with me a lot to make me smarter. Now I've come on a long way.
Feeling good is a crucial factor in a good performance. Why are you so happy here in Leverkusen at the moment?
Kossounou: The atmosphere in the dressing room is brilliant – also the whole staff who work with you here everyday. Everybody gets on with each other. I look forward to coming here every day, training with the lads but also doing things away from the pitch. Of course, I'm very happy when my family can come to watch games but to be honest: The club now feels like a big family to me.
A good team is also needed for good individual performances. How did you see interaction in the defence and how do you communicate with each other?
Kossounou: In French. (He laughs) But not only the communication with the people next to me in Jona (Jonathan Tah, ed.) and Eddy (Edmond Tapsoba, ed.) is special. Each of us has different qualities and that produces a good mix and probably makes us so good as a group in the end. Eddy is strong on the ball and plays great passes. Jona is our leader in the centre, he communicates a lot and helps us and the team enormously with that. And I… My job is simply to keep every striker who gets close to us out of the way. That mostly works out really well. (He laughs)
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Bayer 04 host top French club Marseille at the BayArena on matchday four in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League group stage. The match kicks off on Thursday 5 November at 21:00 CET. The latest information on ticket sales.
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The BAYER 04 HILFT Day is celebrating an anniversary: for the tenth year running, a large number of employees of the Bundesliga club have been getting involved in a community project in Leverkusen and the surrounding area. Following the refurbishment of the city library last year, this time around some 70 staff members rolled up their sleeves to help out at the Bunker Youth Centre in Leverkusen-Wiesdorf. With the support of the Lebenshilfe workshops in Leverkusen and partner Coca-Cola, a rubber football pitch was laid, a Bayer 04-style lounge was created and other projects were carried out. Werkself players and coaching staff also gave their all.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen and sponsors club partner NRG24 are continuing their partnership, which has been in place since the summer of 2023. The Bundesliga football club and the energy consultancy firm have extended their successful partnership until 30 June 2027.
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