The final whistle blows, and the dust settles on the previous ninety minutes. But the press soon wants to get the opinions from the Bundesliga trainers whether they have won, lost, or drawn. Here’s what they had to say following matchday 12.
Werder Bremen 1-0 Hertha Berlin
Ole Werner: “It was a good and mature performance against a team that we knew we wouldn’t get ten or twelve chances against. It was a very tight game that ended up going our way. We earned that by staying calm and compact. We didn’t lose our nerve or try to force anything. So we still got chances. It could have gone either way, and so the goal at the end was the only difference between two very even sides.
“The key for us was defending their counters well and to keep the correct distances between our defenders. We did that really well. That’s Hertha’s strength and, to a certain extent, we were able to take that away from them.
“Everyone knows that Fülle is an exceptionally header. Not only that, but he’s someone that has so much quality in and around the box. The late goals say a lot about the boys and their belief. It also has a lot to do with the previous experiences that they boys have had across the season.
“Today it was important not to go all guns blazing in attack but to stay controlled so as not to be that team that gets caught in a trap. That’s something that we have been really strong at this year.”
Sandro Schwarz: “Our offensive game was the big deficit. We were too careless there and couldn’t make anything out of good situations. That’s why we couldn’t take anything with us, even though we were almost always good in the game.”
Bayern 6-2 Mainz
Julian Nagelsmann: “Massive kudos to the team for what they’re doing right now, the way they’ve carried themselves the past three days has been outstanding. We scored a lot of goals again and did so in a beautiful way. It’s great fun to watch from the sidelines.
“We’ve got a good mix of quality and the right kind of attitude. It’s truly great right now. It’s nice when six different players score, it gives the players confidence. The guys who came in are doing very well, and that’s what a team thrives on as well.”
Bo Svensson: “Congratulations to Bayern for a well-earned win. They deserved to win by that much too. In the first half we were tidy in parts, in the second half we were lacking across the board.”
RB Leipzig 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Marco Rose: “We’re really pleased with the result. It wasn’t a pleasing game on the eye and we weren’t expecting it to be, because both teams have had a lot of games recently. Both teams took on the fight and you could see that with regard to a few things, we weren’t used to playing with a back three.
“The goal from the free kick definitely helped us. We didn’t allow much, defended well, made use of an opportunity to counter and won an important home fixture.”
Xabi Alonso: “The second half was different. We didn’t have that many chances, but I felt we had to keep going to have those chances. However, we know how good Leipzig are, they just need one mistake from us to get the second goal. After that it was very, very difficult.”
VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Augsburg
Michael Wimmer: “We didn’t get off to a good start and even though we had prepared ourselves for a physical game, Augsburg were able to take the lead in the fifth minute. The first half was pretty even, with Augsburg maybe having a slight edge, as we were unable to find our way into the game. It took until the 65th minute before we really found our groove, with Wataru Endo’s shot. That gave us the confidence to attack, to create chances and pose a threat from set pieces.
“We were able to reward our efforts with the winning goal. Looking at the game from the 85th minute onwards, it was a deserved victory for us. We wouldn’t have had reason to complain if the penalty had been given, I have to agree with [Maaßen].”
Enrico Maaßen: “I think we got off to a good start and scored a nice goal after five minutes. Stuttgart took advantage of their first real chance and scored the equaliser. We were the better team just before and after the break, were in control and could be often found inside the final third. One key moment for me was the penalty that wasn’t given. In my opinion, his hand was in an unnatural position and therefore the VAR should have intervened. That would have been a big chance for us to take the lead, which would have really helped us here in front of a full house.
“Instead, Stuttgart were able to get back into the game with two set pieces which we cleared on the line. Those moments were the key to the crowd getting back behind Stuttgart. We saw how strong they were from corners and have to settle for a point, seeing as we failed to defend well enough. Today proves that the team wanted to win, but we need to be more compact. Overall, it’s frustrating to drop points late on for the second straight game – we need to be better.”
VfL Wolfburg 4-0 VfL Bochum
Niko Kovac: “We played good, very good football today. In the second half we created many chances, which ultimately led us to a deserved winner. I am very pleased and very happy. I would like to congratulate my team for an extraordinarily good performance. A lot of things worked well.”
Thomas Letsch: “There were worlds between the two teams today. We lacked everything that made us strong last week. That was completely gone after the 0:2 at the latest. Accordingly, we are not only going home from an away game with a defeat, but also with four goals conceded.
“That hurts and is not so easy to explain. We must not show this discrepancy between two games again. It’s going to be hard to compete in the league this way.”
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Oliver Glasner: “We are proud of the excellent performance and disappointed with the result. What we put on the pitch in the second half and how we almost pushed BVB in was unbelievable. We played out some scenes beautifully, sometimes pressed well. But we have to take it upon ourselves that we didn’t score any goals from these chances. On some days the efficiency that we had against Marseille, for example, isn’t there. #
“We made the wrong decisions in front of the opponent’s goal. We have to address the two goals we conceded, which we defended poorly. Dortmund exploited the mistakes coldly. We will build on the performance and still get a lot of points. We need to take a lot of strength and self-confidence with us from this bitter defeat. I have no qualms.”
Edin Terzic: “We’re very happy with the win, it wasn’t a really good game from us. An intense, big fight. If Eintracht always plays like this, not many teams win here. Especially the three offensives are doing very well. We had to get through a lot of tight situations. It was a lucky win, but a great one.
“We had really good combinations in front of the two goals when we played in exactly the space we wanted to do. Nevertheless, it was playfully poor at times. It’s not easy when Frankfurt bring all offensive options off the bench. Gregor Kobel was outstanding today.”
Union Berlin 2-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Urs Fischer: “It was a fantastic second half in which we really dominated. Despite going behind, my team never gave up and above all, they didn’t get desperate, but rather remained calm and played their game. We didn’t really use long balls and instead tried to play shorter to break them down. In the end we got the reward. I think our first-half performance was also good. We had opportunities, but we either weren’t clinical enough or the final touch or pass was just a bit off. We kept working hard in the second half and deserved the victory in the end.
Daniel Farke: “You have to expect anything in football, especially here at the Alte Försterei. Union often score late on. You have to be wide awake, and we weren’t in the final seconds. It’s a disappointing result and a defeat that’s hard to accept. Our first half was very good. We were very solid and didn’t them anything. We deserved to take the lead and perhaps could have been a bit better with a few of our moves after that.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do that and Union started to apply more and more pressure, but, being honest, we didn’t concede any real chances and then their equaliser comes from a deep cross from midfield. It came from nothing. After that, they got their belief back and the stadium turned in their favour and made it difficult for us. Our defensive set up wasn’t right at the end for their second goal and we paid the price today. It’s very hard to take because we deserved more.
Schalke 0-2 Freiburg
Thomas Reis: “We needed the first few minutes to initiate our pressing, it didn’t work that well. We then made the switch, which made us better in the game and we were able to force Freiburg to play long balls. We knew that they wanted to relocate a lot, so we had our problems at first. It’s very annoying when you play your transition moments improperly and the last pass doesn’t arrive. We could have created one or two more chances. When we conceded a goal to make it 0-1, we defended carelessly. You have to win the duel. We retreated and gave the opportunity to shoot at goal from a good position.
“Freiburg kept us busy in the second half. The sticking point here was the penalty, which was very unfortunate. I saw a team who invested everything. Ultimately, it has to be said that Freiburg’s victory was not undeserved.”
Christian Streich: “We didn’t know how Thomas Reis let his team play. In the run-up, we mainly talked about mentality and attitude. We showed both from the first minute. Before the end of the first half Schalke came up better and in the last 15 minutes Schalke had a great chance where Mark Flekken saved very well. It was a good performance by our team and I think it was a deserved win.”
Köln 1-1 Hoffenheim
Steffen Baumgart: “It was a great energy performance from my team. We were a little lower today, but got over a very high intensity. We’re very happy with the point, were rewarded for the effort. In my view, it is a fair result. Of course we were lucky in the last situation that TSG didn’t score.”
Andre Breitenreiter: “”In the end, the draw is fair. The Cologne team only had a little time to regenerate, for which they have a lot of respect. We lacked precision in the last pass, played much too slowly, too sluggishly in the build-up. Both teams had chances to decide the game.”
