This morning, Ron-Thorben Hoffmann shed some more light on his Coronavirus situation, claiming that he was forced to play while ill. This is something that the club strongly refutes.
GOOD START
The start was fantastic. It all happened very quickly on deadline day. I flew there with my boys and then we made it final at the last second. Then it started right away, a week later. The first game was in front of 35,000 spectators and we won straight away. A great debut. I scored forty points, played twenty three games, nine of them to zero. It started really well and the plan seemed to work."
DOWNHILL
"Then some things went a bit differently, but as we all know, that’s part of football. It’s not always uphill. After my corona illness, I went through a difficult time. I learned a lot about myself. It’s not always uphill, but that it can also quickly go in the other direction."
GRATEFUL
"Nevertheless, I am very grateful for this time and just happy that I took the step because I learned a lot about myself and English football."
COVID
"In England, it was a completely different corona situation than in Germany, where corona didn’t really play a role any more. With the English, everything was over. There was no more testing, no measures, nothing. And then at the turn of the year, even when my family was with me, I caught it from a teammate. I was then in quarantine for seven days. I did private tests, and one was still positive on the seventh day. I trained on the eighth day and played on the ninth, then I realised that something was wrong."
GOT WORSE
"At the same time, there were critical reports about Phonzie [Alphonso Davies], with whom I had contact, and about Rune Jarstein at Hertha BSC, who really had problems. Then you listen more to your own body and your own mind. I still played three games after my corona illness, but it got worse from game to game, including how I felt afterwards."
BACK TO MUNICK
"I had a very low energy level, I had no strength at all to get up after games and I didn’t get up from the couch. It was very strange, I had shortness of breath and a twinge in my chest. Then I spoke to the officials myself and asked to be checked. I took the initiative with my family and with the people around me and we said: I’m going to Munich."
RECOVERY
"I was welcomed there with open arms, the doctors checked everything out for me and took very good care of me. Then, fortunately, everything was fine again. I was in Munich for four days, then I went back to Sunderland and exactly during that time, when I wasn’t there, the new coach was hired and he put an English goalkeeper in goal, who did well."
PLAY-OFFS
"We got into the playoffs and there was no chance for me to catch up again and get in goal. But I would have loved to do that, because I had the goal of getting promoted with the club in goal. The fact that it still worked out is a huge success for the city, for the club, which has made its way out after four years in this difficult league with really nasty and difficult teams to play against."
PROUD
"I played my part in it, played 23 games and contributed more than half of the points. That’s why I’m proud of that time. Personally, I have matured a lot and can take many things with me that will always be helpful for me and my future career."
BAYERN TEAMMATES
"We wrote. In fact, he didn’t even realize it. I asked him how he was. I was in quarantine at the time and we’ve always had a small group with Chris Richards, Jamal Musiala, Phonzie and Joshua Zirkzee. We were always good with each other and that’s why we were in contact all the time."
LET DOWN
"Yes, I suffered at the time because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I just procrastinated, because I haven’t recovered properly. And when you’re alone in a foreign country and in a foreign city and in a different medical environment than what I was used to from Bayern, then you worry even more. That’s how it is definitely been to me. I had the feeling that I was let down a bit by the medical department and therefore had to take care of it myself more than the club [Sunderland] did."
BAD FEELING
As it got worse game by game I was concerned to be honest. What’s going on here? Something my body is trying to tell me but I don’t know what because I didn’t have a fever or any bad symptoms. I just wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t have any strength. I was already asking myself: ‘OK, what do I do now? What’s best for the club? What’s best for me? Can I get a good mix?’ There unfortunately I didn’t succeed because I didn’t get a good mix, because I couldn’t go on in goal afterwards."
