Reaction to the away defeat to FC Schalke 04

Head coach Ole Werner: “Of course we are disappointed. The defeat is hard to take, but not completely undeserved on Schalke’s part, because they had more and more of the game in the second half. In the first half, we did a really good job. In the second half, Schalke pushed us back by playing lots of balls forward. Nevertheless, we could have won the game by being more clinical, but at the end of the day, the level of our performance was not what we wanted."

Clemens Fritz, head of scouting and professional football: “We found good spaces in the first half, especially in the final third. When we played the ball cleanly, we got in good shooting positions. Towards the end of the first half, however, we had little relief. This continued in the second half: we lost balls too quickly and had too little possession. It was a game we expected: very intense, aggressive and with lots of challenges. All in all, we didn’t deal with the pressure and that’s how you concede two goals.”

Marco Friedl: “We knew what we were coming up against and that Schalke would give everything. We lacked just that in the second half. At the end of the day, we deserved to lose. Overall, we defended well, but then switched off twice. With the ball, we hardly got past their attacking line, and you can’t win away at Schalke like that.”

Marvin Ducksch: “It’s a hard loss to take. We weren’t able to put much pressure on them towards the end of the game. We could have scored a second goal already in the first half. Before we conceded to make it 2-1, I had a chance myself to give us the lead again. I didn’t manage that today and in the end it was a very disappointing day for us.”

????️ Marvin Ducksch:

"It's a hard loss to take. We weren't able to put much pressure on them towards the end of the game. Overall, it's a very disappointing day for us."#werder#S04SVWpic.twitter.com/mx9Txk3nij

— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) April 29, 2023