Höwedes: It’s not always easy to create chances against sides who like to defend deeply, so it is something we aimed to make the most of. In terms of open play, we can still improve in an attacking sense. We didn’t create as many chances as we should, especially when they were reduced to ten men. However, I don’t want to be negative because we did what we needed to and grabbed the three points.
Question: Can you explain what the atmosphere was like after the winner?
Höwedes: We celebrated together as a team. The head coach was clearly delighted. Everyone ran from the bench and we celebrated together, which shows the spirit within the camp.
Question: During the game were you thinking about the fact that it was your first league start of the campaign?
Höwedes: It didn’t really come into my mind. I knew it’d come round at some point. We decided that I would take small steps – sometimes I’ve come back too quickly and picked up knocks on the way. I spent a lot of time training in the gym, before making some cameo appearances. It’s great to finally be back.
Question: Was it always the plan to be fully fit by the end of the second international break?
Höwedes: I had never given myself a fixed date. It’s important to find your rhythm and obviously you can only get that through playing games, so getting to a good fitness level before returning was necessary. It was important to come back strong.
Question: How did Hertha’s goal come about?
Benedikt Höwedes’ first Bundesliga start of the season couldn’t have gone better. The World Cup winner opened the scoring for Schalke against Hertha after 27 minutes and he watched on as May Meyer netted an injury time winner for the Royal Blues. After the game he spoke to DFB.de about the atmosphere in the stadium, heading and getting back into the swing of things.
Question: How fun is it to win a game in the manner you beat Hertha?
Benedikt Höwedes: It’s a great feeling. When you get a late winner the atmosphere in the stadium is remarkable. The fans were behind us for the whole game and we sent them home happy. It wasn’t necessarily that easy to play against 10 men, which is something we need to work on in the future. We pushed really hard in the final few minutes and got what we deserved.
Question: Are you and Joel Matip fighting for the golden boot?
Höwedes: Joel is fantastic in the air. His height certainly helps. I’m also good in the air and I managed to use my skills to open the scoring this weekend.
Question: Can you describe the goal?
Höwedes: Not really to be honest, I need to see it again. I know that I got in front of man and managed to hit the back of the net though.
Question: There were a lot of dangerous set pieces in the game. Have you worked on them since the defeat to 1. FC Köln?
Höwedes: It’s not always easy to create chances against sides who like to defend deeply, so it is something we aimed to make the most of. In terms of open play, we can still improve in an attacking sense. We didn’t create as many chances as we should, especially when they were reduced to ten men. However, I don’t want to be negative because we did what we needed to and grabbed the three points.
Question: Can you explain what the atmosphere was like after the winner?
Höwedes: We celebrated together as a team. The head coach was clearly delighted. Everyone ran from the bench and we celebrated together, which shows the spirit within the camp.
Question: During the game were you thinking about the fact that it was your first league start of the campaign?
Höwedes: It didn’t really come into my mind. I knew it’d come round at some point. We decided that I would take small steps – sometimes I’ve come back too quickly and picked up knocks on the way. I spent a lot of time training in the gym, before making some cameo appearances. It’s great to finally be back.
Question: Was it always the plan to be fully fit by the end of the second international break?
Höwedes: I had never given myself a fixed date. It’s important to find your rhythm and obviously you can only get that through playing games, so getting to a good fitness level before returning was necessary. It was important to come back strong.
Question: How did Hertha’s goal come about?
Höwedes: We didn’t react quickly enough. It marked the end of a spell where we were not closing them down quickly enough. We can’t let that happen frequently. We got away with it this time though.
Question: How important was yesterday’s victory? After all, you face Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund in the coming weeks...
Höwedes: Tough games are on the horizon, so it’s important to go into them with confidence. We have faith in ourselves – we can deal with a number of different situations, we just need some consistency now. Once we’ve got that, we’ll see what happens next.
Source: DFB.de
