“A frustrating way to concede” | OneFootball

Assistant coach Patrick Kohlmann deputised for the suspended Ole Werner (Photo: W.DE).

Post-match reaction following 3-0 defeat at FC Bayern München

SV Werder Bremen were left feeling disappointed after the 3-0 defeat away at FC Bayern München on Friday evening. Despite defending well for much of the match, the league leaders were able to come out on top after three second-half goals. WERDER.DE spoke to assistant coach Patrick Kohlmann afterwards, who was deputising for the suspended Ole Werner, as well as several players to get their thoughts on the defeat.

Ole Werner, head coach: “Congratulations to Bayern on a deserved victory. At the same time, there were were a lot of things that we did well to slow the game down. We just did didn’t look to finish our chances as well as we should have in transition. We created fewer of these situations during the second half and it became about just being the first to score. If you want to win, then everything has to fall into place — unfortunately for us, our injuries meant that we didn’t have the stamina to see it through. The scoreline doesn’t make for pretty reading, because the boys left it all out on the pitch. First and foremost, we now need to cross our fingers and hope that nothing serious has happened to the players that went off injured.”

Patrick Kohlmann, assistant coach: “We weren’t able to create any good chances for ourselves with how little we managed to win possession. Things didn’t get any easier after the injuries we suffered and the penalty against us. We were stood extremely deep in defence and weren’t able to give ourselves any respite. There definitely was a turning point in the game, as Bayern only grew in confidence after taking the lead. It was a deserved defeat, but I cannot fault the team in any way for their performance.”

Marvin Ducksch: “We knew what sort of game to expect. I think that, despite everything, we still gave it everything we had. I would have preferred that the penalty that led to them taking a 1-0 lead hadn’t been given. We didn’t allow them many chances and it was a frustrating way to go behind. We’d set ourselves the goal of defending as hard as we could. Everyone gave it all they had, but we might have been lacking the stamina needed to make the most of our opportunities to counter.”

Milos Veljkovic: “We played well during the first half. It’s not going to be easy if you give up two penalties against Bayern. Nevertheless, as a team we put in a good performance. We really wanted to win the game, or at least manage to take a point home with us. At the same time, we know that we would have needed a lot to go our way in order for that to happen.”

Michael Zetterer: “It was obvious that we would need to defend. We absolutely deservedly lost, also because we barely managed to clear the ball. We were defending deep and Bayern did a good job of making the most of it. There was a similar handball situation in our game against Augsburg where we weren’t awarded a penalty, but tonight it was given against us. However, it wasn’t this decision that caused us to lose tonight.”

Clemens Fritz, managing director for sport: “I think that we did a decent job tonight. We didn’t give up many chances. In the first half, we were just missing a little bit of courage to shoot after having been able to use our opportunities to counter-attack. The second half was all about clearing the ball away from danger. Through the injuries to both Jens and Justin we were not only down two players, but also two opportunities to make substitutions. The penalties weren’t the deciding factor tonight, even if I do think there’s room for debate on them being given at all. As a team, we tried to present a united front. As far as I know, neither Jens or Justin have suffered any serious injuries.”