“Shown that our development is progressing”

“We showed the face we wanted to show,” said Paul Will after the final whistle. The midfield engine was of course not referring to the disappointed facial expressions of himself or his teammates after the final whistle, but rather characterised the performance that SV 98 had shown in the home game against 1. FC Nürnberg. A performance that deserved three points, but ultimately only resulted in one. At the same time it should represent an important step for the further course of the season.

“We played a really good game, had a lot of chances to score, played courageously, the pressing worked really well.” Will’s statements are backed up by numbers. The Lilies recorded 62 percent possession, won 53 percent of duels, had 19 shots on goal and collected 13 corners. Statistics that only belong to a draw in a few cases.

“It was just banal things that we have to do better,” summarised Will. What the 25-year-old meant specifically: tactics, structure, starting behavior, coordination and communication. SV 98 was able to put a check on all of these things on Sunday. However, there was still room for improvement when it came to exploiting opportunities and exploiting offensive standards. “Complaining at a high level,” Will called the critical points of his game analysis, which he rounded off succinctly: “We just have to add the second goal.”

The Lilies missed another goal in numerous actions, the guests from Nürnberg equalised after a good hour with a dream goal. Nevertheless, this performance gives a lot of encouragement for the rest of the season. “We are disappointed with the result, but not with the way we played football,” explained Torsten Lieberknecht, also classifying the events with a view to the season so far: “We have shown that our development is continuing to progress. Things are really coming together.”

The Lilies have improved their performance with each week, and now it’s time to get their first win of the season in the league. If the Darmstadt team maintain their level from the Nürnberg game, it should happen very soon. An assessment that Will also shares: “With such a performance we will be successful in the near future. There’s no other way.”

Especially since the southern Hessians are still far from reaching their limit after the upheaval in the summer. “There are many processes that need to continue to evolve. Where you get to know each other even better in the game. This will get even better, I promise. With every week we play together.”

The away game in Elversberg awaits Will & Co. next weekend. Combined with the hope that the faces after the final whistle will also express what all the Lilies want to see. A broad victorious smile.