“It hurts a lot”

How disappointing! SV Werder Bremen lost their crucial away match at FC St. Pauli 2-1. The mood among those Green-Whites who gave their opinions after full time was naturally subdued. Here are the reactions to the game.

Head coach Daniel Thioune: “We expected a lot more than what we got and what we delivered on the pitch. Based on our first-half performance, getting something would have been deserved, but we’re still dealing with the same issues. We don’t make enough of our spells on top. Next week will be a final for us, to push ourselves immediately back toward the relegation play-off and safety spots. At the end of the day, we have to win football matches. That’s the only thing we need to talk about.”

Captain Marco Friedl: “It hurts a lot because we played well in the first half and had plenty of chances. With their first real chance, we go behind, which hurt because it didn’t feel like it was coming. We get level straight away, and the second goal annoys me even more because we’ve never tried to play like we did before it. We play the ball to our smallest player and it’s clear it’s going to come straight back at us. We’re making too many mistakes. In our situation, football is a game of errors, which is why we deserved to lose. We need a breakthrough win quickly. We probably needed one weeks ago. We deserve to be where we are at the moment.”

Leonardo Bittencourt: “It was one of those games where you could see that neither team exactly covered themselves in glory in the final third, as has been the case over the past few months. That was clear again today. Then we go and concede. Mio has played superbly over the past weeks and months and things like that can happen. Of course, it’s not a good time to make a mistake, but he’ll grow from it. We’re not blaming him for anything. Still, we fought back and made it 1-1, only to concede the second. It’s a very difficult situation we’re in. We have to shake it off as quickly as possible. We go again next week.”

Managing director for sport, Clemens Fritz: “We expected more and we set out to achieve more. In the first half, we did well and what we wanted to do worked. We have to position ourselves better and be sharper with the passing in the final third. Then you go and concede a goal you maybe concede once a year. I feel incredibly sorry for Mio and I don’t blame him at all. St. Pauli had the momentum, then we come back into the game and immediately find ourselves trailing again. That hurts. Still, it’s important to put this game behind us now, because we only have five days to prepare for the next one.”