You Ask 'Em: Daniel Bachmann Fans' Q&A

By: Watford FC Staff

Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann answers questions sent in by fans on social media, for a Q&A first published in matchday programme The Hornet!

How does it feel to finally get some minutes after having to wait patiently? (Saul Simons)

“Like I’ve said in a couple of interviews after the last few games, I always train like I’m going to play at the weekend. I have to prepare as if I’m playing, but it was a difficult 18 months with last season and the first half of this season. It wasn’t easy, but in football things change quickly and I always knew what I can do and that the club knew my qualities as well, so I’m glad I’ve got the opportunity and it couldn’t have gone any better with those three wins in the first week.”

Do you think you can be our number one goalkeeper instead of Ben Foster, even when he’s back fit? (t_kirky81)

“Yes, obviously I do. I want to play and the shirt’s mine at the moment. I love to play, I don’t want to sit on the bench again for the next 10 years, I want to play now and I hope to make sure that will be the case. When I came back from Scotland, where I’d had a good season with Kilmarnock, it was a bit tricky because Gomes and Foster were still here, but I still expected a different outcome to that of last season. That’s done now though and I’m in a good moment.”

What is your advice to young keepers? How do you deal with 'the waiting game' and errors leading to a goal? (Dorota)

“When you are a young goalkeeper, the most important thing is to enjoy it because if things are not forced, you’re always going to do well. Everyone makes mistakes, even the best players in the world, and that’s football. As a goalkeeper, if you make a mistake it normally results in a goal so it’s one of the hardest positions mentally because you don’t have any room for error. You have to get on with it because thinking about it over and over isn’t going to change anything, you have to just try and not do it again and focus on whatever comes next in the game. As for the waiting game, there are 10 outfield players in the team but only one goalkeeper, so you know it’s going to be difficult. You just have to keep working and try to train every week as if you’ll be in the starting XI at the weekend, because that’s the only way to stay motivated and make sure you do everything right.”

What made you want to be a keeper? (Josh Watson)

“I’ve always played in goal professionally, but when I grew up in my village I played as a striker. Every now and then I went in goal at youth level, but I scored a lot of goals and I actually signed to a Bundesliga academy in Austria as a striker when I was 10. It was Admira Mödling and after a few months we went to a two-day tournament and I scored three goals on the first day, but in the evening the goalie hurt his toe on the bathroom door at the hotel so I said I wanted to go in goal and I ended up doing okay. I’ve stayed in goal from that tournament onwards.”

Who has been the biggest influence in your goalkeeping career? (Paul Green)

“Not specifically in goalkeeping but in life generally, it’s my parents. They’ve taken me everywhere and done so much to get me where I am and to help me out with my career. At one point we lived about a 40-minute drive from where I trained and my mum and dad took me there and picked me up every day for I don’t know how many years. They travelled to away games too and without them I wouldn’t be where I am. In terms of goalkeeping, there was a coach called Walter Franta who taught me all the basics when I was young in Austria. He’s working at a club in Germany now and I spoke to him the other week. Then at Stoke I worked with Eddie Niedzwiecki for a very long time. He was the one who brought me to England and helped me settle and I learnt so much from him. I saw him after the Stoke game recently as he was commentating on the game for BBC Radio.”

What has been the highest point of your career so far? (Kate Mitchell)

“The week [after making my league debut for Watford] couldn’t have been much better for me, winning three games on the bounce in my first three league games. We all know the Championship and how hard it is to win three in a row, so this was a very nice moment in my career and I’m feeling very good about it. The season I had at Kilmarnock was very good as well as that was the club’s best ever season and we qualified for Europe.”

What has been the lowest moment of your career and how did you bounce back from it? (Wfc_F1)

“I had a very bad injury when I first came to England and I was out for nearly a year. I had an infection and a stress fracture in one of the vertebrae in my spine and then the whole thing got infected, so that was a pretty low point because there were about three or four months when I couldn’t do anything. I was in a cast from just below my chest to below my knee for about three or four weeks. I was in hospital and then I went back home to spend some time with my family because I was only 17 and not being able to do anything over here would’ve been difficult. I remember when I finally came back, the first two or three games I played for Stoke’s Under-23s I felt like I’d never played in goal before. I was out for such a long time that my body just didn’t feel right, but I just had to work hard on the things I felt I was doing wrong and be patient.”

When will you be starting a YouTube channel?! (Fox)

“Never! I’m sorry if people are expecting that, but I’ll leave it to Fozzy. That’s just not for me.”

How fun is it to work with Ben Foster? (Matt Stevens)

“He’s a really nice guy and he’s good to be around. It’s been great working with someone who’s so experienced and I’ve especially learnt a lot from him on the mental side of the game. He’s very relaxed, nothing really bothers him in football anymore, and that’s probably even more important than anything I’ve learnt from him on the technical side.”

Biggest legend – Ben Foster or Heurelho Gomes? (Emily Pearce)

“I’ve worked with both for pretty much the same amount of time and I’d probably say both! To be honest, when I was younger I knew of Heurelho more as when I started watching football he was at PSV and then he signed for Tottenham, but they’ve both had fantastic careers and it’s hard to choose one.”

Are you still friends with Francisco Sierralta? That was some header! (Martin Moore)

“I think he was just checking that I was still there! We had a look at it after the Barnsley game and I think the cross was absolutely incredible. It was between me and him and I couldn’t have got there, so he needed to get something on it because [Cauley] Woodrow was right behind him. It just ricocheted off his head and luckily for us it didn’t go in and we managed to keep it out together. I love Sierralta – he’s a great guy, he’s like a big teddy bear. I gave him a bit of stick but my Spanish isn’t great and his English isn’t great either. He actually told one of the physios before the game that he was going to score that night, but he didn’t say which goal!”

Have you ever saved Troy's down-the-middle power penalty in training? (Will Oak)

“When I wasn’t playing I always helped Troy by staying after training so he could take five or six penalties, but he would tell me where he was going to put them so that he’d have to get it right in the corner and it’d then be easier for him in a game. But I don’t think I’ve ever faced one where he’s gone right down the middle and to be honest with you, I don’t want to! He went a bit to the keeper’s right at Stoke but the thing is, with that pace you need to get a big body part on it because your hands aren’t going to be enough. It needs to hit your knee or strike you straight in the chest or the head, otherwise it just doesn’t stay out.”

Which footballing star from the past would you least like to face a penalty from? (Michael Tate)

“I’m going to go with Didier Drogba. He’s another one of those who strikes a penalty with a lot of power, so he would be the first one that comes to mind.”

Would you rather score or save the winning penalty in a cup final? (beardydad_uk)

“Save the winning penalty, 100 per cent. That’s easy!”

Do you hope to become Austria’s starting goalkeeper one day? (Nathanbhalman)

“Yes, that is something that’s in the back of my head but I don’t really think about it too much. There’s no clear number one with the national team at the moment and going to the Euros in the summer is something I’d love to do, so if I continue playing well then I think the chances are very high. I don’t really want to think about that too much though because Watford is more important. We need to get back to where we want to be and where we should be, and everything else comes after that.”

Are you still good mates with Sebastian Prödl? (Anna Francis)

“Yes, I actually spoke to him the other day. I haven’t seen him since he left because the health situation makes it difficult for everyone, but we’re in touch and we speak every couple of weeks or so on the phone. We speak quite a bit about Watford and he’s obviously still looking at how we’re doing. He was here for four or five years and Watford was a big part of his career. He’s a great guy and we speak about our kids and our families as well as life in general.”

Other than football, what's your favourite sport? (will_ingold_1881)

“I would probably say my favourite is skiing because that’s what I grew up with. I started skiing when I was two-and-a-half, so it was a big part of my life before I moved to England. Even when I was playing in Austria, I was still going skiing a lot in the winter but the last time I went was in January 2011, which was not long before I signed for Stoke when I was 17. That’s something I’m really looking forward to doing again when I finish my career, which is a long time away. I also enjoy golf and American football. I’ve followed the Raiders since I met them a year or two ago at The Grove. I’ve spoken a few times since then to one of their players, Erik Harris, and it’s been great to get to know them and build that connection.”

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