Dimitrios Grammozis: We need to work on creating chances

Both head coaches spoke to the media after the goalless draw with 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Friday evening (5/3). Suat Serdar and Frederik Rönnow also gave their thoughts on the stalemate.

Dimitrios Grammozis:

We saw a game with a lot of intense duels today. We knew beforehand that Mainz play a long of long balls and are good at picking up the second balls. So a lot of the first half took place in the middle of the pitch and had a lot of duels and neither team managed to keep hold of the ball very well. It was never going to be a game with a lot of chances and the few chances we had were good quality, such as with Shkodran Mustafi’s header. If we’d scored there, we would have picked up courage and had the self-confidence to push on. In the second half, Mainz became stronger and stronger and we lost control of the game. We had another good chance through Suat Serdar, but the Mainz keeper saved it. Our defensive performance was good though and we had the right attitude. We know that we still have to work on our offensive play in order to create more goal-scoring chances.

Bo Svensson:

It was an even game in the first 20 minutes. We had to get used to Schalke’s system at first. After we got a grip, we dominated the game. We were just missing the goal. We could have done better in the final third to create even more chances. The performance was absolutely fine and really good at times. We just lacked that goal which is a big shame for us.

Suat Serdar:

We would have liked the three points – everybody knows what the table looks like. The one positive was that we kept a clean sheet. I think what the coach has done over the past few days has been good. We need to continue working on ourselves with him – he will help us to perform well in the coming games. It’s hard to play football without any pressure when you are at the wrong end of the table. Regardless of our opponents in the next few weeks, we want to win the games.

Frederik Rönnow:

It was difficult game but we fought hard. Our defensive work was good, however we didn’t use the space afforded to us when we had the ball and we lost possession too quickly in the second half in particular. If you don’t score, you have to make sure you don’t concede, which we at least managed today and that’s something when you consider how many goals we’ve conceded this season. We need to be better on the ball though and create more chances. The coach has arrived with a lot of energy and that’s given us a boost.

Dimitrios Grammozis: We need to work on creating chances