"Our build-up play had to be better"

Dedryck Boyata, Krzysztof Piątek, Alexander Schwolow and Niklas Stark were self-critical after the goalless draw against Mainz 05.

Hertha remained unbeaten for a fourth Bundesliga match in a row on Tuesday evening (15/12/20), yet the 0-0 draw with Mainz was not a satisfying affair. “I think that it’s two points lost, because we absolutely wanted to win this match,” said a disappointed Krzysztof Piątek after the final whistle. “We weren’t penetrating enough going forwards to be able to score a goal,” added Niklas Stark. herthabsc.de sums up the match reaction. 

Dedryck Boyata: It was a disappointing game from my point of view. We played against a team that was focused on defending and unfortunately we weren’t able to create any chances. We had a lot of the ball, but every time we moved towards the penalty area we were unable to find a man with the final pass. Our attackers worked really hard – even on the back foot. The draw last weekend was a good one, but this one isn’t. We are in a good way compared to the start of the season, though. We are winning games, collecting points and getting better as a team all the time. But we know that we weren’t good enough against Mainz and so we are disappointed.

Alexander Schwolow: Mainz set up very, very defensively and only came out on the counter-attack. We had a lot of possession but we didn’t create enough clear-cut chances. We played a bit too slowly and didn’t switch positions enough. We lacked width. Obviously it’s hard to create chances against a compact back five, but we had to be better in our build-up play. We have to be ambitious; the point isn’t enough for us, we had to win this match. The bottom line is that we didn’t have enough chances. We absolutely wanted to win this match, and unfortunately we couldn’t do that. Now we want to win against my former team.

Niklas Stark: We have to acknowledge that Mainz defended well. Although we had plenty of possession and made the opposition work hard, we found it hard to find a way through. We weren’t penetrating enough going forwards to be able to score a goal. That’s a shame, because otherwise we actually had quite a good game. Now we have to go one better against Freiburg.

Krzysztof Piątek: It was a hard match for us. I think that it’s two points lost because we absolutely wanted to win this match, but Mainz didn’t make it easy for us and often defended with a back five. We have to create chances as a team, but unfortunately we fell short. Now we have another game that we want to win.