There’s little separating World Cup winners Benedikt Höwedes and Mats Hummels. They were worlds apart on the emotions spectrum though. Dortmund’s captain was straight as a die with his words after his side’s fourth straight league win. His opposite number in Schalke colours was left dejected on the eve of his 27th birthday and tried to explain something that was hard to put into words: The Royal Blues’ peculiar display in the 146th Revierderby that resulted in an emphatic 3-0 loss. The Germany international spoke to DFB.de following the derby defeat.
DFB.de: Mr Höwedes, 3-0 sounds like a thrashing. And to be honest, it was exactly that. Why so?
Benedikt Höwedes: We didn’t get into the game from the off. We tried to shut off the middle of the park with two holding midfielders and two attacking midfielders and to try to stop Dortmund’s versatile game. We completely failed to do so. Dortmund had an array of chances in the first half alone. It was simply lucky that we weren’t behind by the interval.
DFB.de: And it didn’t get better in the second half…
Höwedes: We had a better shape in the second half, were set up better and didn’t allow Dortmund any more clear chances to begin with, but they were then rewarded for their first half efforts. We conceded the opener through an unfortunate deflected shot. All in all, it was a one-sided game, unbelievably disappointing for us. Our performance in the derby is inexcusable.
DFB.de: How can you play like that in a derby? After you somehow went into the dressing room at the break goalless, could you have readjusted things? How did Schalke want to approach the second half?
Höwedes: We tried to be compact initially again and then try and find something going forward ourselves. We were more compact when we changed to three holding midfield players. Not as many balls went through the middle as they did in the first half. Despite that, we made a decisive error that led to a goal – you have to say that it led to a deserved Dortmund victory.
DFB.de: Do you share the view that Dortmund were more passionate towards the end of the game?
Höwedes: Hmm, more passionate – I don’t know. I believe that you can say that we didn’t put up a fight at all and that we lacked bite. I don’t want that to be a feature of our team. But it’s clear: If you go down 1-0 and concede a second shortly after then the opponent has a larger breathing space while you’re left disappointed. Again: It’s correct that we fell short of expectations.
DFB.de: And that all comes a day before your 27th birthday. How is that for you?
Höwedes: It’s not a nice birthday of course, that’s normal. We’re all annoyed and frustrated that we had such a bad day at the office and went down in the manner that we did. I also think that we went into the game without any courage.
DFB.de: How will you fix that?
Höwedes: Lot of balls didn’t go as required, just as many weren’t stopped. The balls to the front line came back quickly. We could barely relieve it, something which would have been desperately crucial with Dortmund’s powerplay. We were inferior to Dortmund in all aspects of this game.
[mmc/ot]
There’s little separating World Cup winners Benedikt Höwedes and Mats Hummels. They were worlds apart on the emotions spectrum though. Dortmund’s captain was straight as a die with his words after his side’s fourth straight league win. His opposite number in Schalke colours was left dejected on the eve of his 27th birthday and tried to explain something that was hard to put into words: The Royal Blues’ peculiar display in the 146th Revierderby that resulted in an emphatic 3-0 loss. The Germany international spoke to DFB.de following the derby defeat.
DFB.de: Mr Höwedes, 3-0 sounds like a thrashing. And to be honest, it was exactly that. Why so?
Benedikt Höwedes: We didn’t get into the game from the off. We tried to shut off the middle of the park with two holding midfielders and two attacking midfielders and to try to stop Dortmund’s versatile game. We completely failed to do so. Dortmund had an array of chances in the first half alone. It was simply lucky that we weren’t behind by the interval.
DFB.de: And it didn’t get better in the second half…
Höwedes: We had a better shape in the second half, were set up better and didn’t allow Dortmund any more clear chances to begin with, but they were then rewarded for their first half efforts. We conceded the opener through an unfortunate deflected shot. All in all, it was a one-sided game, unbelievably disappointing for us. Our performance in the derby is inexcusable.
DFB.de: How can you play like that in a derby? After you somehow went into the dressing room at the break goalless, could you have readjusted things? How did Schalke want to approach the second half?
Höwedes: We tried to be compact initially again and then try and find something going forward ourselves. We were more compact when we changed to three holding midfield players. Not as many balls went through the middle as they did in the first half. Despite that, we made a decisive error that led to a goal – you have to say that it led to a deserved Dortmund victory.
DFB.de: Do you share the view that Dortmund were more passionate towards the end of the game?
Höwedes: Hmm, more passionate – I don’t know. I believe that you can say that we didn’t put up a fight at all and that we lacked bite. I don’t want that to be a feature of our team. But it’s clear: If you go down 1-0 and concede a second shortly after then the opponent has a larger breathing space while you’re left disappointed. Again: It’s correct that we fell short of expectations.
DFB.de: And that all comes a day before your 27th birthday. How is that for you?
Höwedes: It’s not a nice birthday of course, that’s normal. We’re all annoyed and frustrated that we had such a bad day at the office and went down in the manner that we did. I also think that we went into the game without any courage.
DFB.de: How will you fix that?
Höwedes: Lot of balls didn’t go as required, just as many weren’t stopped. The balls to the front line came back quickly. We could barely relieve it, something which would have been desperately crucial with Dortmund’s powerplay. We were inferior to Dortmund in all aspects of this game.
