Demirović: “We have to work on conceding fewer goals”
The reaction to the 2-2 draw against Bochum
Despite leading twice, Augsburg were ultimately denied all three points on Saturday after VfL Bochum twice found an equaliser in an intense match at the WWK ARENA. We gathered the reaction from the players and coaches following our 2-2 draw on matchday 3 in the Bundesliga.
Phillip Tietz: “I was really pleased to get my first start. The atmosphere was really amazing. But at the end of the day, it’s not about me as a player, it’s about winning. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to do that today. We knew what we would have to deal with and that Bochum would play lots of long balls. We also went into the lead twice but the equalisers both came too quickly. This being said, we shouldn’t just focus on the negatives; it’s positive that we scored goals at home again and played with a good mentality. We have to build on this now.”
Finn Dahmen: “If you go into the lead twice, you obviously want to win the match. However, the equalisers were too easy for them and came at inopportune moments. That was a little unlucky. We knew that Bochum would play lots of long balls and press us very high. We were then forced to play lots of long balls as well. Ultimately, we can be happy that we’ve managed to keep a direct rival below us in the table.”
Ermedin Demirović: “Not winning the game is tough. We had a good plan for the game and knew how Bochum would play. Then we went into the lead twice but we didn’t manage to prevent them equalising. We have to work on that. Our main target has to be conceding fewer goals, because there’s plenty of goals in this team. If we concede less often, we would win games like these.”
Dion Beljo: “We can’t be satisfied with today’s game since we know that we can do better fundamentally. We made it far too easy for Bochum – that can’t happen at home. It certainly feels good to score a goal and to set one up too, however only the points tally matters at the end of the day.”
Enrico Maaßen: “We opted for a different approach today – we sat slightly deeper and had less of the ball. Despite that, we managed to take the lead on two separate occasions. Then we conceded both goals at the worst possible moment. The game certainly isn’t worthy of any kind of beauty award today and we need to concede fewer goals. We are going to work on that in the coming weeks. We obviously wanted to win the game, but ended up picking up a point instead.”
VfL Bochum head coach Thomas Letsch: “There are two sides to my conclusion from the game. On the one hand, I’m really pleased and proud of the way the team played today here. I think we put in a strong performance and dominated throughout the whole 90 minutes. On the other hand, it’s all about winning games, so disappointment is the dominant feeling. When you score two goals in Augsburg, then you need to pick up all three points. Despite that, we’ve put in two good performances on the bounce and will take this positive momentum with us into the international break.”
