Ralf Fährmann: Fantastic foundations to build upon

Ralf Fährmann, there was no winner in the game against the Werkself. What do you think of the result?
Of course, we’d rather have won. At the end of the day, you have to say that the result is fair. We’ll have to live with the point. We played well at times, but we were also sometimes untidy.

You had to reach behind you for the ball at one point. What do you think of the unlucky goal you conceded?
It was deflected. Matija Nastasic wanted to block Leon Bailey and actually gave him no chance to finish, but the Leverkusen player somehow managed to do it. Unfortunately, it was impossible to save because the ball was deflected like that.

Breel Embolo has made a comeback to the starting XI after almost a year. Was he the happiest Schalke player in the stadium after the match?
Breel earned his place in the starting line-up through his performances in recent games when he came on as a sub. He gave me a great impression but, unfortunately, he didn’t get his reward. However, I’m sure that Breel will be very important for us in the coming weeks.

The video assistant referee had to intervene two times in the Leverkusen match. What are you thinking as a player in these situations when it sometimes takes a few minutes for a decision to be reached?
Everyone has their opinion on it, including myself. But I don’t think we’re doing ourselves any favours by talking about it after each and every matchday. We have video referees now – plain and simple – and we have to accept it. There are moments when you’re glad they’re there and also situations when you think that it’d be better without video assistance.

What do you think of the team’s development?
We’re making steps forward week after week. But we also know that there’s lots of room for improvement and we have to work to improve in the coming days and weeks. We have fantastic foundations to build upon.

What has to be improved?
I don’t want to go into details because our opponents will be reading this. There’s work to be done in all areas. All our players who won’t be away for international games want to and will give their all in training. Also, I hope that the boys who’ll be away for international games will come back injury-free.

How do you feel going into the international break?
I feel normal. Of course, I’d rather we’d won our last game and had more points in the bank but, on the other hand, we could have fewer points. It is how it is. The next match is all about taking three points back to Gelsenkirchen from Berlin.