“We’ve only got ourselves to blame”

A sense of real deflation hung in the air after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to FC Augsburg. Werder had been hoping to take a decisive step towards safety, but instead fell short, and the disappointment was palpable in the mixed zone.

Head coach Daniel Thioune: “We didn’t reach the level we’d shown in the previous two matches. Our positional play at the start was actually quite good, and we had the game under control, but in those transitional moments, when you need to be dangerous, we gave the ball away far too easily. That meant we spent a lot of time chasing the game, which sapped our energy, and then we didn’t have enough left in the tank to come up with the necessary ideas on the ball. For the goals we conceded, we simply didn’t have enough control in our defensive transition. Those were the moments that really hurt us. We’ve got some tough fixtures ahead, and we still need points. The fight isn’t over, it’s got a few more rounds to go.”

Goalscorer Romano Schmid: “We had set our sights higher, but we simply weren’t at it from the first second. We looked far too sluggish, and that can’t happen in a game of this importance; it’s very disappointing. We’ll have to look back at it properly and shift our focus to the next game. The whistling at half time today hurt a little, but I can understand it.”

Amos Pieper: “We’ve only got ourselves to blame for how it panned out. It wasn’t about tactics or the system, it was about energy – and we didn’t display it anywhere on the pitch. We’ve been talking for days about what a massive opportunity this was, so it’s very bitter in the end. We’ll analyse it; in a way, it’s a result that’s been a bit typical for this season.”

Olivier Deman: “The first half just wasn’t good enough from us. We lacked the right kind of energy and conviction. We knew how important today's game was, and we worked hard all week to prepare well for the challenge. If the energy isn’t there, it gets really difficult. Next week, we must get back to how we've been playing recently. We can't run out like this again.”

Managing director for sport Clemens Fritz: “In the first half, we didn’t win enough duels, and in the final third, we lacked ideas. Augsburg were very compact and waited for our mistakes. We then concede the goals far too easily from there. We all know that we need the points, and it’s frustrating that we didn’t get anything out of today’s game. We can’t be relying on other results, that’s not the way we’re approaching this. It will be a tough fight right up to the very end.”