We're on the right track, says Westermann
15.09.2009
After Sunday's 2-1 win in Cologne Schalke skipper Heiko Westermann spoke to us about the last few weeks, his change of position, the youngsters in the team and Friday's home game against Wolfsburg.
Heiko Westermann, the last couple of weeks since the defeat against Freiburg have been very arduous. Were you surprised by the win in Cologne?
We have an intact team in which we all run and fight for each other. You saw that again yesterday, so I wasn't surprised by the win. The manager also tried to shield us from everything that was happening. Our job is to play football and perform well on the pitch, everything else is done by others.
You're third in the table at the moment. Can Schalke do better this season than first thought?
We have ten points from five games at the moment. We have a very good manager and we're on the right track. The task now is to take each game as it comes and continue playing decent football.
You have operated in defensive midfield so far this season, but yesterday you played in central defence as part of new back three. How do you see your situation and what's your assessment?
It's never boring. And in any case our personnel situation didn't leave us with much choice. I think I'm strongest when I play in the middle, either in central defence or in defensive midfield. We practised the back three in training last week and it worked well. The key factor in Cologne, however, was our togetherness as a team, plus the fact that we stopped them coming through the middle.
In Cologne six of the players who started the game were in their early twenties or not yet 20. Is that Schalke's future?
The lads play freely without worrying about things and are simply playing well. But they're also allowed to make mistakes and go through a bad patch.
On Friday Schalke entertain Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg. How do see it going?
We're at home and we want to win at the VELTINS Arena. We also have to make amends for the defeat in our last home game against Freiburg.
