Sevilla striker Ciro Immobile has accused former club Borussia Dortmund of a lack of support during a difficult year in Germany.
Immobile joined Dortmund for €19 million last year after ending the
2013-14 campaign as Serie A's top scorer with 22 goals. He failed to
adapt to life in the Bundesliga, however, and moved to Sevilla on a
year-long loan in July.
The 25-year-old is in the Sevilla squad for Tuesday's Super Cup clash
with Barcelona as he looks to put his Dortmund disappointment behind
him - a spell he claims was exacerbated by a lack of help from those at
the club.
He told El Pais : "[We received] no help, neither me nor my family.
"We must share the blame. I did not know German and I expected more help from my team-mates. But hey, you cannot expect to change the culture of a country. You feel bad if you're not used to a certain lifestyle. And German is an impossible language to learn."
Immobile was also surprised by then Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp's approach, adding: "There was little on tactics, little on gym work.
"We worked hard in pre-season but not very much on weekdays. Everything was geared towards endurance.
"He [Klopp] did a lot on motivation to get the best out of his players. But at a tactical level we did not work hard. He's a good coach though, you do not get to a Champions League final by chance. Last season was difficult, we came across many difficulties and the team was not right."
Double Europa League winners Sevilla will hope Immobile can plug the gap left by last season's top scorer Carlos Bacca's move to Milan.
"[Sevilla's sporting director] Monchi told me that I am very different from Bacca," Immobile added.
"He helped the team a lot, but mostly as a finisher. I like to be in the area but also get out and shoot from distance. I like to get wide and attack space.
"Two straight wins in the Europa League... is not achieved by a striker who will score 50 goals or a defence that does not concede many, this is achieved with a united team. And when I got here I realised how close they are."
He told El Pais : "[We received] no help, neither me nor my family.
"We must share the blame. I did not know German and I expected more help from my team-mates. But hey, you cannot expect to change the culture of a country. You feel bad if you're not used to a certain lifestyle. And German is an impossible language to learn."
Immobile was also surprised by then Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp's approach, adding: "There was little on tactics, little on gym work.
"We worked hard in pre-season but not very much on weekdays. Everything was geared towards endurance.
"He [Klopp] did a lot on motivation to get the best out of his players. But at a tactical level we did not work hard. He's a good coach though, you do not get to a Champions League final by chance. Last season was difficult, we came across many difficulties and the team was not right."
Double Europa League winners Sevilla will hope Immobile can plug the gap left by last season's top scorer Carlos Bacca's move to Milan.
"[Sevilla's sporting director] Monchi told me that I am very different from Bacca," Immobile added.
"He helped the team a lot, but mostly as a finisher. I like to be in the area but also get out and shoot from distance. I like to get wide and attack space.
"Two straight wins in the Europa League... is not achieved by a striker who will score 50 goals or a defence that does not concede many, this is achieved with a united team. And when I got here I realised how close they are."
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