Gouweleeuw: “Simply not good enough”

Post-match reaction to 4-0 defeat in Heidenheim

FCA fell to a disappointing defeat in Heidenheim on Bundesliga matchday 2. Read on for all the reaction to the match.

Keven Schlotterbeck: “Heidenheim scored twice from two chances in the first half, while we were missing that bit of luck on our side. It’s tough to concede a penalty like that so early into the match. Having looked at the footage, it’s a mystery to me because I was just contesting a challenge. We then suffered too many losses of possession, but Heidenheim did well to hit us on the counter. We have to be critical of ourselves and analyse this defeat, in order to address the things that didn’t go well. After doing that, I’m certain we’ll be able to show a different side to ourselves after the international break.”

Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “Going behind early on, especially through yet another handball decision, made things tough. We tried to continue to move the ball up the pitch, but we were lacking precision. We also weren’t compact enough in defending Heidenheim’s counter-attacks – it simply wasn’t good enough. Everyone will need to show a reaction during the international break, as we need to show an improvement!”

Nediljko Labrović: “It feels awful to have conceded four times. We had several chances of our own in the first half, but we didn’t make the most of them. All our mistakes were then punished. We need to pick ourselves up now because there’s a lot of potential in our team, even if we didn’t manage to show that today.”

Arne Maier: “We came up short in every area today. Even if the game started poorly with a penalty awarded against us, the scoreline at the end shouldn’t read 4-0. We made it far too easy for Heidenheim and were unable to pose any problems for them.”

Jess Thorup, FC Augsburg head coach: “I’m disappointed, because we played poorly when not in possession, didn’t defend well in and around the box and barely created any chances for ourselves. During the first half, we had the feeling that we could still exert our control over the game, but then all of a sudden, it was 2-0. We then forgot how to do the basics. The penalty decision that resulted from a tackle had a decisive impact on the match, but I don’t want to discuss the refereeing today. It’s no excuse for the fact that we weren’t able to win our duels or execute the basics today.”

Frank Schmid, 1. FC Heidenheim head coach: “We were nearly caught off guard by a dangerous free kick that hit the crossbar in the opening minutes. The penalty helped us find our way into the game and I was pleased that we managed to make it 2-0 before the break. Last season, we also took a 2-0 lead against Augsburg but ended up losing 5-2. That was something that we spoke about at half time and we learned from it. The third goal then put the game to bed.”