Weinzierl: “We need to take the positives out of that”
The reaction to the defeat in Hoffenheim
First Team
08.01.2022, 18:44
FC Augsburg began the second half of their season with a defeat to TSG Hoffenheim, losing 3-1. “Overall, we lost to what was a very good Hoffenheim team,” summarised head coach Markus Weinzierl. Here is the reaction to the match.
Florian Niederlechner: “To go 2-1 down just before half time was a real blow for us, and it allowed Hoffenheim into the game even more. Despite that, we stuck in the game until the very end, and we need to take the positives from the game with us into the next. We knew it was going to be tough against Hoffenheim, but all in all we just weren’t aggressive enough without the ball.”
Rafał Gikiewicz: “It wasn’t the way we were hoping to start the second half of the season. To concede three goals is simply too many, but we also mustn’t be conceding goals in this manner. Of course we’re feeling a bit of pressure, but we’re also feeling a lot of support and so I think it’ll be a successful second half of the season. I think we have enough quality in the squad to remain in the Bundesliga.”
Michael Gregoritsch: “We were lucky that their goal in the first minute was ruled out. Then we took the lead and were playing well. Unfortunately we conceded from giving the ball away which allowed Hoffenheim to turn the game around. We had two or three chances after the break but nothing clear-cut. It also has to be said that Hoffenheim played a really good game.”
Ricardo Pepi: “I’m of course not happy that we lost the game. We had a couple of chances to come away with a least a point, but our opponents also played well. The half an hour of game time I got did me some good, I got a good feeling for the team and for the league, too. The team and everyone at the club have helped me feel welcome. We’ll now continue to work over the next few weeks and prepare for the next matches.”
Markus Weinzierl: “We were lucky that their early goal was disalowed and that we went and scored early on ourselves. We were in control up until the 40th minute, but then suffered a double blow which hurt us a lot. We gave the ball away too cheaply in the build up to their first-half goals. In the second half, we were much braver and the game was balanced, but at the end of the day we’ve lost to a very strong Hoffenheim side. We now need to work on the negatives and take away the positives into our next matches. We want to be more alert and creative in the opposition penalty box against Frankfurt.”
Sebastian Hoeneß: “We started the game well but then fell behind from the early corner kick. After that, though, we picked up from where we left off and played a good game. The two goals we got before the break were extremely important and we had chances for even more goals at the start of the second half, but our final ball was just lacking a little bit. The game became more open and we fortunately survived two or three nervy moments and took the game away from them. Making it 3-1 was our reward for an overall deserved win. You could see that both teams are in good condition.”
