After a difficult week where Werder suffered three consecutive defeats, the Green-Whites turned their slide around with a win over Hertha BSC on Friday evening. Niclas Füllkrug’s late header gave Werder victory in what had been a tight and cagey affair. “It was a good and mature performance. The goal was the only difference between two very even teams,” explained head coach Ole Werner after the game.
WERDER.DE have summarised the post match interviews of Ole Werner, Niclas Füllkrug, Milos Veljkovic, Niklas Stark and Mitchell Weiser.
Ole Werner: “It was a good and mature performance against a team that we knew we wouldn’t get ten or twelve chances against. It was a very tight game that ended up going our way. We earned that by staying calm and compact. We didn’t lose our nerve or try to force anything. So we still got chances. It could have gone either way, and so the goal at the end was the only difference between two very even sides. The key for us was defending their counters well and to keep the correct distances between our defenders. We did that really well. That’s Hertha’s strength and, to a certain extent, we were able to take that away from them.”
Niclas Füllkrug: “We knew that it would come down to patience and will. We defended really well and didn’t give away much. When I scored the goal, I gave it a proper knock and tried to put as much behind it as I possibly could. We didn’t let ourselves drift away from our style and identity, which can easily happen when you lose three games in one week. We knew that we had to do better and we did a good job of that.”
Mitchell Weiser: “We had some chances that we should have converted. Of course no one likes losing, it’s not nice. But we remain calm even when we win. Every win is great and it’s especially nice to win at home. We’re always in the game and believe that we can win.”
Niklas Stark: “It was an intense game. We knew that Hertha would try and get in behind using long balls – and we reacted well to that. It was very tense, very intensive. We didn’t have many chances, but luckily we’ve got Fülle. Towards the end of the game, we looked for Fülle more because he could get on the end of those balls. We also put in more crosses, as we know we are strong in that area. You’ve got to work hard for these games to go well and we’re pleased that Fülle scored. But we did very well in defence. We played professionally, maturely and very patiently, which particularly pleased me today. We earned our win this evening.”
Milos Veljkovic: “It was an important win. We kept patient for the whole game. We know that it would be a tight, difficult game and that we wouldn’t get loads of chances. Hertha are a very solid side. At the back, we defended very well as a unit. Up front, it was tough to go through the middle; we had to channel lots of our play down the wings. Füllkrug’s timing and header was just world class. He’s an important player for us and we are happy that we’ve got him."
Ole Werner: “Everyone knows that Fülle is an exceptionally header. Not only that, but he’s someone that has so much quality in and around the box. The late goals say a lot about the boys and their belief. It also has a lot to do with the previous experiences that they boys have had across the season. Today it was important not to go all guns blazing in attack but to stay controlled so as not to be that team that gets caught in a trap. That’s something that we have been really strong at this year.”
Niclas Füllkrug: “The good thing about Tony is that I can read whether or not he’s going to cross from his body language. Then, I noticed he glanced at me a little. I recognised immediately that, okay, the cross is coming in a moment. Luckily it worked perfectly, and it was a great goal.”
Ole Werner: “We need to know our place. We’re a promoted side. This year won’t be without its challenging phases and we definitely won’t always go how we imagined. Ultimately, lots has come together. It’s important for us to put things into perspective and look at ourselves in the mirror. In house we are doing really well as the boys showed today. The lads have showed they can react when they have a bad week.”
Niklas Stark: “Bad weeks happen. A lot went against us in terms of injuries, refereeing decisions and things like that. You have to remain calm, keep a cool head and carry on. Everyone wants to win every game, but sometimes you have to just take a step back.”
Niclas Füllkrug: “We didn’t let ourselves get knocked off course. Of course, you lose three games in a week and there’s reasons that happens. We know that we had to do better and we put that into place on the pitch today. Ultimately, we had three brilliant wins in October, two coming at home, and one busy week that hurt us. We know where we stand and what we can do. We don’t lose our heads if things aren’t going our away, but we don’t get complacent when they are either, as that can make results like those happen repeatedly.
