Max Kruse: “It was a demanding game but in the decisive moments we just didn’t make the right decisions. We let our intensity drop. Our attacks were so often intercepted that we allowed them to hit us on the counter."
Maximilian Eggestein: “We needed to be more decisive with our finishing, that much is clear. We did leave ourselves open to the counter but it wasn’t the second goal that made the difference, we had already lost by then. We tried everything to overturn the deficit but nothing seemed to work and of course with so many men forward we were vulnerable at the back. In the first half we didn’t manage to put into practice what the coach told us before the game. We didin’t attack Stuttgart with enough aggression and we allowed them to control the game. In the end we didn’t do enough to deserve to take something away from the game.”
Philipp Bargfrede: “The goal we conceded in the first half was something we always knew was a threat. It all came from a cross and we know that’s where Stuttgart are strong. We needed to stop the cross from coming in and be a lot tighter in the middle, then we can hit them on the counter. At the end it’s typical, when we’re chasing the game and leave space in behind for Stuttgart to exploit. Today we just weren’t good enough.”
Jerome Gondorf: “In the first half we didn't get stuck in enough; we were too slow going forward and we took too much time over the ball. We needed to use the spaces VfB gave us better but it was in the first half that we really lost the game.”
Milos Veljkovic: “We didn’t have any real grip on the game from start to finish. In defence we need to be more alert, in all situations. Going forward we just weren’t clinical enough ."
Frank Baumann: “We know that Stuttgart are very stable at the back and when you go 1-0 down, things get an awful lot harder. We lost the ball too often and then were too sluggish in getting it back. We didn’t concentrate well enough throughout the game but especially in the first half, when we didn’t inject enough pace into our play to cause problems in their box. In the end we just weren’t hungry enough for the win. I’ve got to say though that we gave VfB few chances. They scored against the run of play but it was a nice goal. In the second half we came out the blocks well and created some good chances but just didn’t manage to get the equaliser.”
Florian Kohfeldt: “I can’t criticise the boys’ performance or their passion. We were really unlucky to go behind even though we had spoken before about how strong Stuttgart are from crosses and corners. They have players like Ginczek and Gomez who are really dangerous in the box. After that point it was really tough to play against a smart Stuttgart side. They were obviously trying to slow the pace of the game down, which is of course a completely legitimate tactic but mentally it’s tough when you need to chase the game. We tried everything; we switched up the personnel and pushed men forward. Today we just didn’t have enough pace in our play and lots of individual things didn’t fall into place. We know need to look at why we couldn’t find any solutions with our play.”
