"Put the match behind us and move on"

Not clinical enough going forward, not sharp enough in defence – it was a lack of consistency that defined Werder’s play as they suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to 1. FSV Mainz 05. While the visitors did produce a composed performance, it was as much down to SVW’s own unsatisfactory performance that they failed to pick up any points today. WERDER.DE gathered key post-match reactions from head coach Daniel Thioune, Marco Friedl and co.

Head coach Daniel Thioune: “We lacked the necessary energy in the opening proceedings. Mainz were more combative in the early challenges, which meant we were often getting bested. Then you fall behind, and today we just couldn’t come up with the quality to create the chances we needed. It also felt like Mainz only had two shots on our goal and scored both of them. That was what really separated the sides today. We managed to not lose our focus, but we weren’t able to work ourselves into promising situations. Today, we weren’t as good as Mainz in any regard, which is why we deserved to lose. Moving forward, it’s all about keeping the intensity high and being much more committed and consistent in both attack and defence, starting with next week’s game.”

Captain Marco Friedl: “We weren't precise enough in our play today, and so we deserved to lose the game. If you concede so early in each half like that, you’re just not doing enough to win a home game. We can't be making mistakes like that in the situation we're in. We conceded the goals far too easily. That can’t be allowed to happen in a game as important as this.”

Leonardo Bittencourt on his return to the starting lineup: “Mainz were sharper and more clinical today, and so they took all three points. They made no mistake in punishing us for the mistakes that we made. We were nowhere near precise enough in the final third and so failed to pose any kind of real threat. We now have to put the match behind us and move on. We all know that the fight for survival will go right down to the wire. There isn’t much time until the next match, so we’ll analyse this game and try to pick up points again next week.”

Jens Stage: “It’s frustrating. We needed to secure points today. Every week is decisive for us, and today we failed. It was a tight game that was decided by a few moments. Mainz scored the goals, we didn’t. In the end, they were more clinical in front of goal.”

Olivier Deman: “It's very disappointing. We weren't sharp enough in either box today. We were much better in this regard against Heidenheim and in Berlin. Mainz didn’t have many opportunities either, but they made their couple of chances count. That final pass was missing for us, and we should also be defending better on the goals. After this game, we don’t need to tear down everything we’ve built in recent weeks, but we have to be more effective in the box again.”

Managing director for sport Clemens Fritz: “We didn’t start the match well, Mainz were much more on it from the off. They made good use of their chances and were precise in their play. They had one shot on goal in the first half and scored without needing a second. Today, we couldn’t come up with a response, and we struggled going forward. We also lacked a bit of pace this afternoon. We weren’t as clean as we have been recently, and our finishing was off as well. If you then go and make simple mistakes, it gets really difficult, and you lose the game 2-0. We still have a long way to go, and we’ve got to keep working hard. It hurts, but we’ll analyse what went wrong and focus on Wolfsburg on Saturday.”