„A bit naive after the 3-1“

„I think we played a really solid away game for sixty minutes—a match that definitely had moments where the momentum could have swung in our favour. After a difficult start, we equalised thanks to a lovely goal from Milan. We even had a chance to make it 2–1. Then we conceded a goal, which really speaks to the quality of VfL. Nevertheless, we came out strong after the break. We had two chances involving Patric Pfeiffer—first a free header, and then that shot that hit both posts. And then we conceded the 3-1.

That’s when we entered a phase where—I have to be honest—we weren’t playing well anymore and were a bit naive. A 5-1 scoreline is never the kind of result that leaves you feeling good on the way home. Still, I saw a few situations that give me hope. The first sixty minutes, for sure. And we need to keep pushing forward with the team’s structural development—getting more players on the pitch who simply step up and say: ‚Right, let’s all do exactly this, together.'“

„I thought the game—especially the first half-hour—was incredibly good. We took the lead and had plenty of moments where we could have made it 2-0 or 3-0. Then the opposition stepped up their game a notch, and you could see that our overall structure isn’t quite stable yet; that was evident in the players‘ reactions. Even so, I felt the lads stayed true to their game and didn’t lose their heads. That 2-1 goal before halftime really did us a world of good, though.

I didn’t think we were quite as good in the opening minutes after the break. Darmstadt spent a lot of time in our half—and our box—and we were incredibly lucky with that double-post incident. After that, we regained control and our positioning was outstanding, allowing us to consistently find the open man. We simply played out the rest of the match with great composure and professionalism. That’s how we ended up with a 5-1 win. So, I have to pay the team a huge compliment.“

“I don’t think the result necessarily reflects the game. We held our own for 60 minutes, but in the end, we didn’t win the duels you need against a team like that. They also have individual quality, and it felt like every shot they took went in. We fought hard last week, and we wanted to do the same here. I think we can take a lot more positives away from this than just leaving with our heads down. We’ll take that with us; we know what we’re capable of. At the same time, we don’t want to sugarcoat it. There have been too many defeats lately. We want more wins. We have higher expectations for ourselves and are working on that week in, week out.”

„Fundamentally, it’s hard to find the right words after a game like that. It hurts. The conclusion to be drawn from the match is clear: we were a step too slow too often. We did have a spell where we were really in the game, but overall, it simply wasn’t enough. We were a split-second late too many times, and against an opponent like that, you get punished for it. Now we have to make the most of the break.“