Nemeth: “We want to contain Leverkusen collectively”
Wednesday, 16. April 2025, 09:00 Uhr
After the last-gasp win at Holstein Kiel the focus soon turned to Sunday’s visit of Bayer Leverkusen (19.30 CET). In the run-up to the game, central defender David Nemeth took questions from the media.
...the significance of the win at Kiel: “It was extremely important to come from behind and win, something we hadn’t managed this season. And we won when we didn’t deserve to as well. It was a scrappy win, but that’s what we wanted.
...the opposition: “We want to contain Leverkusen collectively like we’ve been doing all season. If they get past one of us, another has to step in. That’s how we’ve approached every game and that’s what’s made us so strong. Leverkusen are an incredibly good side and second in the league. They aren’t playing badly, but they have played a lot of games this year. That’s tough even for a team like them.
...his recollections of the away game: “We gave a really good performance and Morgan Guilavogui scored an unbelievable goal which brought us back into the game, but obviously we can’t afford to give away goals like we did in then. Hopefully we’ll put in another good performance on Sunday.
Heading is just one of David Nemeth’s many strengths.
...Florian Wirtz: “We don’t pay attention to whether individual players are playing or not. He has incredible quality, of course, and there’s not a lot you can do to counter it. We’ll try to stop him together. Obviously it’s always cool to go up against players like him.
... Leverkusen’s flexibility in attack: “With quick players like theirs you have to try to defend a bit deeper and avoid giving them the space in behind. With the bigger players you have to be touch tight so they can’t flick balls on. We have to try to adapt to the opposition. That’s something we’ve done well as a team so far and hopefully we’ll do so again.
...his personal progress this season: “I wasn’t entirely happy with the start to the second half of the season because I had a hand in a couple of the goals we conceded. I try to go over that in every game and make as few mistakes as possible next time. I’ve had a lot of playing time and I’ve tried to learn from my mistakes. I feel better with every game now. The match practice is doing me good.”
Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters
