Patrick Herrmann scored both goals in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s 2-0 win against Hannover 96. The 24-year-old scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season, which is a personal best as they midfielder has never scored more than six goals in a season. Borussia remain in third place after matchday 25 and are on course to qualify for the Champions League. The former Germany Under-21 international spoke to DFB.de about his development, his place at Borussia and the upcoming game with German record holders and league leaders FC Bayern München on Sunday (17:30 CET).
DFB.de: Patrick Herrmann, congratulations. You’ve set a new personal record after scoring your eighth goal of the season. What does that mean to you?
Patrick Herrmann: I said before the season that I wanted to break the six goal mark. It’s obviously nice to have already scored eight.
DFB.de: You’re now Borussia’s top goal scorer in all competitions.
Herrmann: Really? I didn’t know that. It’s obviously also nice as it’s not a common thing for a midfielder.
DFB.de: You were in the right place at the right time for both goals.
Herrmann: It’s important to have the instinct to know where to run and to be in the right place. One at the back post and one at the front post.
DFB.de: What’s your assessment of the 2-0 win against Hannover 96?
Patrick Herrmann scored both goals in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s 2-0 win against Hannover 96. The 24-year-old scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season, which is a personal best as they midfielder has never scored more than six goals in a season. Borussia remain in third place after matchday 25 and are on course to qualify for the Champions League. The former Germany Under-21 international spoke to DFB.de about his development, his place at Borussia and the upcoming game with German record holders and league leaders FC Bayern München on Sunday (17:30 CET).
DFB.de: Patrick Herrmann, congratulations. You’ve set a new personal record after scoring your eighth goal of the season. What does that mean to you?
Patrick Herrmann: I said before the season that I wanted to break the six goal mark. It’s obviously nice to have already scored eight.
DFB.de: You’re now Borussia’s top goal scorer in all competitions.
Herrmann: Really? I didn’t know that. It’s obviously also nice as it’s not a common thing for a midfielder.
DFB.de: You were in the right place at the right time for both goals.
Herrmann: It’s important to have the instinct to know where to run and to be in the right place. One at the back post and one at the front post.
DFB.de: What’s your assessment of the 2-0 win against Hannover 96?
Herrmann: You could see from the first minute that we wanted to come away with all three points. That was important. We didn’t allow the opposition to really get into our half in the first 45 minute. We also played well in the second half. It was a great result.
DFB.de: Sporting director Max Eberl said that you’re now a man and you’ve matured. What do you think of your development?
Herrmann: I think that I’ve developed well. When I came up from the youth setup I was still small Patrick but then you go through a development stage. My poor start to the season was down to my development. Now I’ve come so far that I am able to settle games, like I did today.
DFB.de: Your goals have been especially important and you’ve picked up points for Borussia yourself.
Herrmann: It’s nice to win when I’ve scored. It’s important that we play well and pick up points. We did that today.
DFB.de: There’s a lot of competition for places on the wings. How have you got round that?
Herrmann: There’s more competition than last year and we have a lot of quality. But the competition doesn’t affect me and it spurs me on. If you have good players waiting to play then you know that you have to give your all. But obviously I’d like to play every game and at the moment it’s going well.
DFB.de: Borussia are trying to extend your contract early. What do you think of their chances?
Herrmann: I have already said that Borussia are my first point of contact. I’ve also spoken personally to Max Eberl. That’s the most important thing to do because I’ve already been here for a few years. There’s not a lot to report at the moment. I have a contract until the summer of 2016 and I’m in no rush. Things are going well at the moment.
DFB.de: Do you have other points of contact?
Herrmann: My agent is always aware of what’s going on. I’ve always tried to keep out of it so that I can perform at my best. That’s going well and I’ll keep doing the same thing.
DFB.de: You play against Bayern on Sunday who you’ve already scored against…
Herrmann: I’ve never scored in Munich. It would be nice for it to happen. We can’t talk about how Bayern are one of the best teams in the world and how tough it’ll be. It’ll be anything but an easy game with the way they are playing at the moment. We’ll have to see and hopefully we can come away with at least a point.
DFB.de: Will it not be about damage limitations?
Herrmann: No definitely not. As a professional sportsman you always want to win, no matter how tough something is. Therefore we’ll go to Munich in order to come away with something.
DFB.de: What will you have to do in order to pick up points against Bayern?
Herrmann: You can’t make any mistakes as Bayern will punish you. We’ll have to focus on our tacking. Only then will we have a chance.
