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Miron Muslic: We’ll address what went wrong and learn from it
There was plenty of disappointment after Schalke’s late 2-1 defeat away to SC Freiburg on Sunday (11/10). Head coaches Miron Muslic and Julian Schuster gave their assessments after the final whistle, while Kenan Karaman and Loris Karius also reflected on the game.
Miron Muslic:
We’re obviously very disappointed with the result. Freiburg were clearly the better side for the first 30 minutes. They controlled the game and deserved to be ahead. The equaliser got us back into it, though, and we didn’t give anything away before half time. We then dominated the second half with a really brave approach out of possession. After the sending-off, though, we lost our shape, and I have to take responsibility for that. We were perhaps too adventurous and too eager to win the game in the final 15 minutes. With the substitutions and the change of system, we wanted to bring more attacking quality onto the pitch, but it didn’t work today. We’ll address what went wrong and learn from it.
Julian Schuster:
Miron has summed up the game perfectly, and I have a lot of respect for him admitting where he feels he made a mistake. We spent a lot of time over the last few days preparing for the way Schalke play, because the way they defend is among the best in the Bundesliga. There’s so much conviction and commitment in everything they do. We found some good solutions against their high press in the first half and really should have made it 2-0, but we knew Schalke always had the ability to get themselves back into the game with one moment. It was a very intense match, both physically and mentally, because we had to stay in control throughout. In the end, the key was how we reacted when things stopped going our way. After the sending-off, the lads played for Yuito and made it look as though we weren’t a man down. So credit to Schalke for the way they perform as a team, and credit to my players for coming through an important experience like that and getting the win.
Kenan Karaman:
This defeat really hurts. We should never be losing a game like that. Our plan worked well for a long time and the coach prepared us brilliantly for the challenge in Freiburg. I thought we were particularly good at the start of the second half. The sending-off should then have played into our hands, but we weren’t active enough on the ball after going a man up. We stopped playing through their first line of pressure and weren’t able to create chances. Then we simply can’t allow Freiburg to have an opportunity like that. They showed their quality with the winning goal.
Loris Karius:
We were slow out of the blocks and Freiburg could even have added a second after taking the lead. The equaliser helped us settle into the game and we became braver. We were also well in the game in the second half, even if we didn’t create a great deal going forward. Freiburg didn’t have many chances after the break either. We lost our way a little after their sending-off. Even if we’re not creating chances at the other end, we still have to make sure we come away with at least a point. The second goal was avoidable. In the end, it was a day to forget for us.
