Patrick Herrmann speaks in an interview about goals against Leverkusen, his first Bundesliga game 12 years ago and the Foals’ current sporting situation.
Flaco, we let the fans choose their favourite goals against Leverkusen before this weekend’s game. Do you have an idea of which goals were included?
Herrmann: There have been some nice goals along the way. My half-volley in 2010/11 was pretty nice when we won there. There were some other great ones as well, but that deserves to be included.
Correct, that goal came third. Valentino Lazaro and Martin Stranzl were ahead of you…
Herrmann: I was also involved in Lazaro’s goal, I put the cross in. It’s no surprise that that goal finished first. I can also remember Martin Stranzl’s strike. He hammered it home on the half-volley from the edge of the box.
Can you still remember your goal?
Herrmann: It was one of my first starts and we won 6-3. My first goal came after Mo Idrissou played me in. The half-volley came after a rebound and I just hit it without really thinking about it. It flew in nicely with the outside of my boot. It was definitely one of my best goals.
Do you enjoy scoring against Leverkusen in particular?
Herrmann: Scoring in the Bundesliga is always enjoyable, but I’ve managed to find the net against Leverkusen on a number of occasions. I wouldn’t be against it happening again this weekend…
Leverkusen will come to BORUSSIA-PARK this Saturday. Our team will be desperate for a good performance, not just because of the reverse fixture.
Herrmann: Of course. We gave 100% against Bayern and earned ourselves a win. Everyone could see that we gave our all and we want a repeat of that against Leverkusen. We want to play a good game in a footballing sense, but it’s also vital that we get stuck in. We have to fight and work hard to be able to win a game like this.
The table looks slightly better after last week’s win, though it’s still really tight…
Herrmann: That’s true. A lot of have teams have picked up a decent amount of points this year and are bunched together. Things can change pretty quickly when you win two games. Obsessing over the table after one win isn’t the right thing to do though. We have to keep picking up points consistently and perform well. If we do that, we’ll be alright.
Just one final question for you: can you remember what happened 12 years ago on Sunday?
Herrmann: Was that my Bundesliga debut? Wow, it was! 16th January in 2010. I think my face has aged a bit since then! I can still remember coming off the bench against Bochum that day. It was a really big highlight in my career. Your debut is always something special. I can recall having goosebumps the whole day and when I came on. I even managed to assist a goal too. I’ll never forget that day.
