Lewis Holtby: "Making the goal in Bremen was good for my confidence"
16.12.2009
After being handed a start against Werder Bremen Lewis Holtby repaid his manager's faith by making the opening goal. In this interview with Schalke.de the youngster talks about the positives of the season so far, Friday's opponents Mainz 05 and the importance of topping the table at Christmas.
Lewis Holtby, the first half of the season is almost over. What positives will you take into the winter break?
Well, from a team point of view our position in the Bundesliga is very positive. And personally I have progressed both physically and mentally this season. I'm very satisfied with my eight Bundesliga appearances so far. I come from the second division, I'm still very young and I've really learnt a lot.
Against Werder Bremen you were in the starting eleven. How special was that?
The 2-0 win was special for the entire team because we were up against top opposition and away from home at that. But you have to remain humble and not start thinking you're the greatest all of a sudden. Providing the pass for the opening goal has given me a bit of a boost and made me more confident. But obviously the game wasn't perfect as far as I'm concerned either.
That sounds as if you've had some self-doubt this season!
It's been on my mind, of course, but I've had some very good discussions with the manager and that's helped me enormously. There's always something you can take from what he says whether it's positive or negative. I have to keep pushing and I can't afford to relax.
The final game before the winter break is at home to newly promoted Mainz 05. How do you rate them?
They're normally very compact and they have great battling qualities, as I discovered with Aachen last year. It won't be easy, that's for sure, and we'll have to give our all.
Three points would put you top of the table, at least for a few hours. Does that play a role?
A win is all that counts for us. We're not even looking at the table in that respect. We want to beat Mainz and then use the time off to clear our minds a bit in preparation for the second half of the season. Obviously we all want to achieve the maximum possible. Most of all we'd like to play in Europe next season, but we're taking each game as it comes.
