JDC: "We're not in a good spot right now; we have to fight out of it together as a unit"

In a candid interview, the German player opened up about BIG's internal conflicts and how they're looking to turn the page.

BIG got their FISSURE Playground 1 campaign off to a positive start as they beat HEROIC 2-1 on Tuesday, picking up their first win under Robin "⁠ScrunK⁠" Röpke, who recently took over as head coach.

For the German squad, ScrunK's arrival signals the start of a new chapter after a dreadful season. Even though the starting lineup remains the same, BIG are implementing a slew of structural changes in the hopes of climbing their way back to the top.

"We had the agreement in the team that starting with this roster, with the coaching and the staff change, we have to reset," Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro told HLTV after the match.

JDC added that everyone on the team has benefitted from a clean slate after they were surrounded by a cloud of negativity. They are working towards building a solid foundation and enjoying the game — and each other — once again.

"Whatever happened in the past is irrelevant," he said. "And even though it wasn't good, we all know that, and we are not in a good spot right now, we just have to fight out of it together as a unit."

Listen to the interview here.

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A 2-1 victory in your first match here in Belgrade. Give me your thoughts on this series.

 I think it's a very important win for us. We have been in a big down. I'm not going to say we are out of that. It's way too soon for this. But for us right now, it's just important that we focus on improving. We've said publicly that we made some changes to the structure. We made some changes to the staff as well. We have a new fire, I would say.

We've unleashed a new synergy in the team that wasn't there before in terms of mood and communication. It was rough. The last six months, I'm going to say it publicly, we were very hard on each other. We were very hard on ourselves because we knew the criticism, we read all of it, and our desire to be better was very huge. But we just couldn't do it. So right now, with the structural changes, we are just working on being a team again, and being together. Being friends, being happy, and focusing on playing the game.

Was revenge on your mind against HEROIC after what happened in the final in Mongolia?

 I wouldn't call it revenge. We had played them a couple of times before. They were better in Mongolia and deserved the win. For me, it was important that we showed up today and that we didn't overthink. We tend to do it. We just had to play the game we wanted to and just focus on us. Focus on Krimbo, hyped, JDC, tabseN and kyuubii. This is the mentality we're trying to bring in really hard. ScrunK is doing a great job of pushing us. We've not been positive to ourselves at all in the last six months.

 It's just been negative and hate, even to ourselves. It's the reality. So he's doing a great job with the stuff around to make us smile and enjoy the game. We kind of forgot that we do this because we love it. We were so frustrated and, to a certain degree, depressed that we just completely forgot that we love this game with all our heart and we love the community. We love the fans, we love everything, and we should cherish that. We have the privilege to play this game full-time.

As you said, the last six months were very rough. You didn't make the Major. There was not much to be happy about. And I was watching your documentary, and everyone was talking openly about the struggles and the issues on the team. After Astana, your last tournament of the season, what conclusions did you come to?

There was a lot of chaos on our team  in terms of how we talked to each other. Our communication in-game was all over the place. There was no trust. I think one of the biggest things you need to have in order to win is trust. And in all positions it was lacking. People were calling, we hesitated. We didn't trust the call or we didn't want to do it. It was in every aspect in the game. So for us to be good again, it was a lot. We had to have personal talks. It was personal in the team. At some point, we didn't really want to talk to each other to that degree and we were just annoyed by simple sentences.

It was a tough environment, but we had to get that out of the way and get a clean start. We had the agreement in the team that starting with this roster, with the coaching and the staff change, we have to reset. Whatever happened in the past is irrelevant. And even though it wasn't good, we all know that, and we are not in a good spot right now, we just have to fight out of it together as a unit. And the rest is just loud noise, you know? It's the reality. I like interacting with fans and the community and all of that, and I wish they would be a bit nicer to us sometimes. But at the end of the day, it's just us six, us seven, the whole staff in BIG, together in this race, and we just need to fix our mentality.

Tell me about ScrunK, your new head coach. What does he bring to the table, and what can you say about this new structure you have?

 I think what ScrunK brings is, first of all, a very strict way of approaching the game. He doesn't sugarcoat stuff but he's not harsh. He's just very honest and he gives you the feeling that he believes in you to be the best in the world in your role. But at the same time, he will tell you when you are fucking up and need to step up. So it's a good balance. I think he frees us a little bit, he unlocks us in multiple ways sometimes. If anyone watched our games, we were playing with a stick-up-our-ass kind of way. I'm going to say it like this, I'm sorry. Like, overthinking a lot, not playing to our skill, and he's just loosening up a little bit so we enjoy the game again, we flow the comms, we trust each other.

And structural… We have a sports psychologist and ScrunK, right? They have way more documents. We are writing down our goals, improvements, overall performances in practice and in officials, how we rate ourselves, and stuff like that. So we can actually see with our own eyes where it's going, what direction it is heading in, and what we need to work on.

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BIG to keep roster, promise structural changes: "We haven't managed to convert the potential"

 During that press conference last month, Roman suggested that there could be roster changes if the team does not improve. And as you said, the team is still not out of it. Do you guys see this season as the last chance to prove that this team, as it is right now, can still fight for trophies and be a top contender?

 It's a very good question. I think everyone on the team knows the importance of performing well. I mean, this is an industry where performance is all that matters. Roman said it publicly. To be honest, I don't know what the future will bring. I think none of us should think about that. Our goal is not to think about business or roster changes. It's natural, of course, because you fear for your career and for the players on the team, all of that stuff. It's in our own hands.

There shouldn't be talks about replacing [someone] if we get our shit together, and there shouldn't be stuff about roster changes and all of that. Because I have seen what all of the players on this team can do, including me. The ceiling is so high, but we struggle under pressure. There were trust issues and all of that. We need to get rid of it to see the true potential and ceiling of this roster.

 And then, of course, it's CS. You know, if we don't hit our spot and we are playing badly, everyone who is playing badly will get replaced someday. That's just the industry. But right now, with these guys, I have full trust that we can be a top team.

 In that same press conference, tabseN was very critical of his own performances. He was saying that the way he was playing, he was not relevant enough to stay on the team. Today, he had two very good maps. How would you rate his performances?

 I think he was playing very great individually today. He's been stepping up as a leader massively. I will give him a lot of shout-outs for that. He was tired. It's a fair thing. It's been rough. People were also not trusting him.  It was all over the place in certain circumstances. But he's been stepping up as a leader, he's giving us the feeling that we should trust him and we have to trust him because he knows what's right. Individually, he's one of the greatest Germans to ever touch the game, right? And he has it in him.  He has that fire to win, the fire to kill everyone, and he can do it.

So I'm just very happy with how it's been developing. But as I said, it's very early. It's the first game of the tournament. We should never get ahead of ourselves. I think that has been a problem for us as well. We haven't taken it day by day, but looked at the future. 'What if we lose? What if we win?' All of that.  Right now, we're just looking at it day by day. Today was great. We will go back to the practice room and we will congratulate each other, which we never did before to that extent. We will be, like, 'Nice, good job.' Focus on what we need to do tomorrow to go to the playoffs, and then we will see the rest.

After this event, there's IEM Cologne, an event that is always a big deal for the team and for the BIG organization.  How important would it be to make a deep run here, for example, to make the playoffs, and get a nice confidence boost before Cologne?

I think it would be very important.  I mean, we all have the goal to reach the playoffs here. Everything else, we will see how it goes day by day. Cologne, for us, is a Major at the moment. It's the biggest German tournament. BIG was there [in the playoffs] in 2018, and we want to be there for the Germans.

We need it as well for the VRS points. We are ranked 33rd or something in Valve. Maybe a bit higher after the win today, but as I said, this is not where we want to be. This is not where the org wants to be. So here, reaching the playoffs and beating good teams, feeling out how the game goes, would be amazing for Cologne. And in Cologne, we would dream of reaching the playoffs.