With his 15th goal in his 85th Bundesliga match, Max Meyer set the tone for Schalke’s victory against Hamburger SV last night. The Germany U21 international put in a commanding performance in their 3-2 win in what was his first match back in the starting XI since recovering from tonsillitis. The central midfielder smashed one past René Adler from 22 metres out to get his team back in the game. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar added to their score in the 66th minute, before Schöpf made it 3-1 in the 77th. In an interview with DFB.de, the 20-year-old discusses his memorable goal, and the team’s relationship with André Breitenreiter.
Question: Max Meyer, most important thing first: your goal to equalise was a bit special, wasn’t it?
Max Meyer: The ball sat up very nicely, and I just thought why not. I had a good feeling as soon as I made contact, and then the ball flew into the back of the net.
Question: What did you think when you conceded within four minutes?
Meyer: It was of course very frustrating, especially when you have big expectations for a game but then concede a stupid goal early on. We reacted well however, and played very well in the first half. We created plenty of chances and then got our deserved equaliser before the break.
Question: Why was the reaction so good, especially given the fact that in recent times going behind has served only to unsettle the team?
Meyer: Everyone was pumped for this match. The last games have not gone perfectly, and for that reason we wanted to make amends.
Question: After the third goal, the whole team went to celebrate with the coaching staff and André Breitenreiter. Was this coincidental in light of the recent speculation surrounding the boss?
With his 15th goal in his 85th Bundesliga match, Max Meyer set the tone for Schalke’s victory against Hamburger SV last night. The Germany U21 international put in a commanding performance in their 3-2 win in what was his first match back in the starting XI since recovering from tonsillitis. The central midfielder smashed one past René Adler from 22 metres out to get his team back in the game. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar added to their score in the 66th minute, before Schöpf made it 3-1 in the 77th. In an interview with DFB.de, the 20-year-old discusses his memorable goal, and the team’s relationship with André Breitenreiter.
Question: Max Meyer, most important thing first: your goal to equalise was a bit special, wasn’t it?
Max Meyer: The ball sat up very nicely, and I just thought why not. I had a good feeling as soon as I made contact, and then the ball flew into the back of the net.
Question: What did you think when you conceded within four minutes?
Meyer: It was of course very frustrating, especially when you have big expectations for a game but then concede a stupid goal early on. We reacted well however, and played very well in the first half. We created plenty of chances and then got our deserved equaliser before the break.
Question: Why was the reaction so good, especially given the fact that in recent times going behind has served only to unsettle the team?
Meyer: Everyone was pumped for this match. The last games have not gone perfectly, and for that reason we wanted to make amends.
Question: After the third goal, the whole team went to celebrate with the coaching staff and André Breitenreiter. Was this coincidental in light of the recent speculation surrounding the boss?
Meyer: I don’t know whether there’s any link. Schöpf scored the goal and then ran to the manager, and we followed. That shows that we are fully behind him. He always prepares us well, and is relaxed. We are enjoying his methods a lot at the moment.
Question: How pleased are you to be able to reconcile with fans following your Europa League exit last week?
Meyer: I don’t want to think about what the atmosphere would have been like had we not done well today. We needed this good performance and are very pleased overall.
Question: How did you get back into things after your bout of tonsillitis?
Meyer: I made an appearance against Frankfurt, and played an hour there. It was a bit tricky getting back into the swing of things, and so it was important for me to play from the start against HSV. It didn’t help that we found ourselves behind so early on, but we played some nice football and created our chances.
Question: On Saturday you face 1. FC Köln, Can you take the confidence from today with you into this match?
Meyer: I think so, yeah. We have built our belief up, and will try to show that on the pitch against Köln. Our aim is clear, we want to win.
