Dave Christensen: our goal will never change [INTERVIEW]

The regular season of the European League of Football is coming to an end. Panthers Wrocław have only three games left until the end of the regular round. On this occasion, we asked the head coach of the team, Dave Christensen, about his assessment of the team's performance, his thoughts on the organizational side of the club, and his opinion on the rest of the European league's standings.

More than half of the ELF season is behind us. How do you assess our team's performance?

Dave Christensen: We've competed each and every week – obviously, we'd like to be undefeated at this point in time, but we're not. However, I'm pleased with how our team has competed and had an opportunity to be in every game that we've played well under the fourth quarter.

Which players are looking the best so far? Would you like to highlight someone?

I think we have a lot of players that have played well, at times. Obviously, Tony Tate and Matthew Vitale – they have combined for over a dozen touchdowns, so I think they've played well for us offensively. We've had more good performances - Kacper Jaszewski has played well as a wide receiver. Obviously, Dawid Brzozowski is leading the league in rushing yards, and defensively Solomon Brown and Krzysztof Wis proven to be players to watch carefully – those guys have made a number of tackles.

I think we're playing better in our secondary in the last few games and we have not been letting balls get behind. So I think we've improved on both sides of the ball. I think we have a number of guys that are making themselves better football players each and every week.

The Panthers' results are impressive. The top teams are within your reach. Is there anything you lack to achieve success?

Well, we had our opportunities to beat the Vikings, but we turned the ball over six times. You are not going to win any games by turning the ball over six times. And yet, we're still able to be within a three point game. So you know, we have to play well in all phases. We have to protect the football and do a good job of taking the ball away. And so when we win the turnover margin, we've got a much greater chance of winning games.

How do you rate the organization of Panthers Wrocław?

For what I've seen we're as good as the best in the league. We've got everything to offer. From a premises standpoint, we've got a great facility, we've got our offices, our meeting rooms, physio-room or practice facilities, our weight room, everything's in one place, and most people in this league are not that fortunate to have those things. So we're very blessed to have what we have. And I think that would probably put us right up there as the top two teams in the league.

How does work in Europe differ from your experiences in the USA?

There's a lot of differences between coaching over here and coaching in the United States. Football has been played for a long time over there and so it's much further advanced. There's a lot more financially invested into it. I think, over here, it's still relatively new. As for the coach, the most enjoyable thing here is the attitude of the players - their commitment is just tremendous. They do what you ask them to do, and they do it with great effort.

What do you think about the sports level in Europe?

Probably an equivalent to a Division II or Division III in the States. There are a handful of higher level players, but for the most part, I would say that's probably pretty close to where the talent level overall is at.

What are your thoughts on the league competition? Do you follow other teams' games?

I follow the entire league. I think the Rhein Fire is probably the elite team in the ELF, both they and the Vienna Vikings. Both teams are undefeated at this point in time. I think there are plenty of good teams in the League. There's a lot of competition, there's a lot of parity. As we've seen, anybody can win on any particular day. But you got to show up, you got to play well, because each and every week, you need to prove yourself that you are where you are not by mistake.

Is the goal for this season still the same?

As long as we have an opportunity to be in position to get into the playoffs our goal will never change. So our goal right now is to win each and every week down the road. We have three games left and need to find a way to get in the playoffs.