In an interview, Luca Netz spoke about the team’s performance against Hertha BSC, his assist to make it 2-0 and why he was subbed off in the 77th minute.
Luca, first we have to ask: how is your calf doing?
Luca Netz: All good, it was just a cramp. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to stop, so I had to come off.
That was after you put in some real hard yards…
Netz: Playing on the wings in a back five involves a lot of running. But, that’s how I like to and want to play. Getting back and defending, but also contributing to our attack. I haven’t started a game in a while, so it’s natural that you will get a cramp. At least it only came in the 77th minute.
And you won in the end. What do you have to say about the team’s performance?
Netz: We threw ourselves into the challenges and played with a lot of passion, defended well and fought hard until the 95th minute. Even if things got a bit out of control in the final minutes, we showed a strong spirit and didn’t allow our opponents many chances. We can definitely gain self-confidence from this game, both in terms of our performance and the fact that we picked up three crucial points in the fight against relegation.
Was it special for you to play against your former club?
Netz: Definitely, Hertha are my former club after all. But, it didn’t change anything about how I approached the game. What matters in the end are the win and the three points.
The crowd were a bit vocal towards you, did you hear that at all?
Netz: Of course I heard the boos from the away end. But what touched me even more was the fact that, every time they would boo, our fans would cheer me on. That really helped push me. It’s great to have fans like that and it’s even nicer to have so many of them back in the stands again.
Despite a strong performance and several chances, we only scored from two set-pieces situations.
Netz: Naturally, we would have liked to have scored from open play. But, if that doesn’t work out, then set pieces can often determine the result of the game. Regardless of whether it's a free kick or or a penalty and corner, like in our case.
You played a role in that as well, with your corner setting up the goal to make it 2-0. That’s exactly where every corner should be placed inside the box, or?
Netz: I have to say that it was a really great corner! I hit the ball perfectly and the way that Gini headed it in was amazing. It couldn’t have gone any better.
What else will you be taking from this game, aside from the three points?
Netz: We have to make sure that we continue to defend like this and that we become even more clinical with our chances. We proved yesterday that we know how to play football, but we will only be successful if we manage to bring the right mix of fighting spirit and good football to the table.
