Max Meyer’s goal for FC Schalke 04 should have given his side all three points, however Werder Bremen’s Sebastian Prödl headed home the equaliser in injury time, meaning the Germany international had to settle for a 1-1 draw on matchday 22. The 19-year-old spoke to us after scoring his ninth goal on his 53rd Bundesliga appearance about the atmosphere within the team, his current situation at Schalke and the upcoming derby with Borussia Dortmund.
DFB.de: Max Meyer, what was the atmosphere like in the dressing room after conceding a late equaliser to Werder Bremen?
Max Meyer: Obviously the atmosphere wasn’t as good as if we’d won but that’s not surprising after conceding a 92nd minute equaliser. But we’re still fourth. We’ll try and pick up three points in the derby next week.
DFB.de: Schalke’s goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther didn’t look too good for the goal…
Meyer: I didn’t really see it because I’d already been brought off. I only saw the ball go in. Obviously it’s annoying but these things happen. We have to keep our heads up.
DFB.de: What made you shoot with your left foot for your goal?
Meyer: The ball was on my left and I’m quite good at shooting with my left foot. I was lucky that the goalkeeper didn’t keep hold of the ball. But you can’t score if you don’t shoot.
DFB.de: Did Schalke not do enough going forward?
Max Meyer’s goal for FC Schalke 04 should have given his side all three points, however Werder Bremen’s Sebastian Prödl headed home the equaliser in injury time, meaning the Germany international had to settle for a 1-1 draw on matchday 22. The 19-year-old spoke to us after scoring his ninth goal on his 53rd Bundesliga appearance about the atmosphere within the team, his current situation at Schalke and the upcoming derby with Borussia Dortmund.
DFB.de: Max Meyer, what was the atmosphere like in the dressing room after conceding a late equaliser to Werder Bremen?
Max Meyer: Obviously the atmosphere wasn’t as good as if we’d won but that’s not surprising after conceding a 92nd minute equaliser. But we’re still fourth. We’ll try and pick up three points in the derby next week.
DFB.de: Schalke’s goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther didn’t look too good for the goal…
Meyer: I didn’t really see it because I’d already been brought off. I only saw the ball go in. Obviously it’s annoying but these things happen. We have to keep our heads up.
DFB.de: What made you shoot with your left foot for your goal?
Meyer: The ball was on my left and I’m quite good at shooting with my left foot. I was lucky that the goalkeeper didn’t keep hold of the ball. But you can’t score if you don’t shoot.
DFB.de: Did Schalke not do enough going forward?
Meyer: You can interpret that how you want to. If we hadn’t conceded then everyone would be saying we’d defended well and scored the winning goal. Unfortunately we ended up conceding. Now we have to work hard and make sure that we don’t concede like that next week.
DFB.de: How do you feel after this week’s games?
Meyer: It doesn’t feel as good as a win after conceding in injury time. But nothing changed in the table after Leverkusen drew in Augsburg. We’ll have to stay awake for the whole 90 minutes next week to come away with the three points.
DFB.de: You had two young players in the side in Timon Wellenreuther and Felix Platte. You took a similar path to them. Do you see a comparison to you with both of them even though you’re still young?
Meyer: They’re always welcome to come to me when they have questions. I have a number of games under my belt I’m not really in a position to give tips at the age of 19. Everyone gains their own experience. It’s also a nice feeling for them to play their first few games at the Veltins-Arena. But I don’t need to say too much to them.
DFB.de: As an attacking player, what do you think of Schalke’s defensive system? Do you feel comfortable with it?
Meyer: Everyone knows that we don’t play thrilling football. We try to be compact, to give the opposition little space and then hit them on the counter. We’ve been doing that well so far and we’ve conceded very few goals. We only conceded one against Bremen, even if it was an unlucky one.
DFB.de: You didn’t start against Real Madrid but you did against Bremen. Where do you see yourself in the team?
Meyer: I always try to give my all to be in the starting line-up. I have to live with it if I’m not and be happy if I come on. I’m still young and have already played a lot of games so therefore I can’t demand to start every game. I was happy that I started this time and hope that I can do the same in the derby.
DFB.de: BVB are on a run at the moment but Schalke have a lot of injuries. What makes you optimistic going into the derby in Dortmund?
Meyer:The quality of our team! We have good players and are good at the back. Dortmund will have to get past our defence. We always have chances to score going forward and most of the time we score at least one. If we score one or two goals next week then we could come away with the three points. We’ll have to be compact and not give them too many chances, as we did against Bremen. We shouldn’t be conceding from set-pieces again.
