After the successful start of Slagelse DT in the 2005/2006 Women's Champions League group phase, eurohandball.com took the opportunity to interview the coach of the two time CL champions and former Danish top-player Anja Andersen. Next to her role as coach for the top team in European women's handball Anja Andersen recently announced that she will be taking on the role as head coach for the women's national team of Serbia & Montenegro.

Eurohandball.com: You started off the 2005/2006 CL group phase with a 33:24 victory against Knjaz Milos in Serbia. What is your target for this season?

Anja Andersen: "From the beginning it has been our goal to top as a team in the season 2005/2006. After the first Champions League victory in Ljubljana
(2004) we made quite a few changes in our squad. We wanted to integrate new and younger players over the next 2 seasons. This season our main goal is to win the Champions League for the third time - and make the triple.
Generally, we want to set records that will be hard to break for years to come!"

Eurohandball.com: What makes the Champions League so special?

Anja Andersen: "The Champions League matches are the most fun for us. It is always a big challenge playing in another country, against a foreign team, and in front of enthusiastic home crowds on our away matches. Furthermore, I find it a very good idea to promote the Champions League as a product of its own. I believe that is the future."

Eurohandball.com: You have a very international squad in Slagelse, including players from Russia, Serbia & Montenegro, and Norway. In what language do you communicate with your players?

Anja Andersen: "Yes, we have a very international squad. All communication is in Danish. In order to learn the language our international players are split up into small groups and they have Danish lessons 3-4 times a week.
But the international flair of the squad makes it very interesting to work with the girls."

Eurohandball.com: In your squad you have a number of national team players, who during a season are active in several competitions with their club and national teams. How do you prepare your players to face these challenges?

Anja Andersen: "We have developed a special training programme in Slagelse, where we focus less on training with heavy weights and focus more on preventive exercises. For example, we cooperate with an independent medical doctor in Copenhagen who provided us with a number of shoulder exercises based on experiences from American baseball, where the pitchers often suffer from shoulder injuries. After changing our training methods we have experienced a lot less injuries.

We also look at the diet of our players and make sure they eat correctly e.g. to ensure optimum training conditions and help prevent injuries. Last but not least, we try to plan the training based on the individual needs of the players. It takes a lot of planning, but I find that one of the interesting challenges of being a coach."

Eurohandball.com: Around the match in Knjaz Milos you had talks with the Serbian federation about the position as new head coach for the women's team and you have taken on the challenge for the Euro06 qualification matches against Romania in May/June. What do you see as the biggest challenge preparing the Serbian team for the qualification matches?

Anja Andersen: "Serbia & Montenegro has a very good player material, and especially the matches against the World Championship silver medallists made me take on this challenge. I will have an assistant coach travelling in Serbia & Montenegro talking with the clubs, especially about the training methods we use in Slagelse. The goal is to implement these methods across th e country for long-term benefits.

During the spring I will gather the Serbian national team in Slagelse for preparations. This has several benefits: Slagelse has a very strong training partner in the preparations for the deciding matches of the Champions League and the Danish national championship. Additionally, the Serbian team can train with one of the best teams in women's handball, at the moment."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!Eurohandball.com: Rikke Hørlykke was the best player in the match against Knjaz Milos. She recently announced that she wants to stop her career in the Danish national team. Will she continue her club career in Slagelse DT?

Anja Andersen: "Yes, Rikke has decided to stay another season. After some time adjusting to our way of playing, Rikke has grown into a very important player for Slagelse. She played some very good matches before Christmas, and she was able to continue this positive trend in the first round of the Champions League!"!!!!!!!!

The next match of Slagelse DT will be on Saturday 14 January against Dunaferr NK (HUN) - a remake of the 2004/2005 Champions League semi-final.

Text: EHF