Huub Stevens: I’m disappointed, but I saw some positives

On his comeback as Schalke head coach, Huub Stevens was satisfied with his team’s performance. Because of this, it was even more disappointing that his side lost 1-0 to RB Leipzig on Saturday (16/3). Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick explained how the Knappen played well and how his side had luck on their side today. schalke04.de has summarised the coaches’ reactions as well as those from Sebastian Rudy and Alexander Nübel.

Bundesliga

16.03.19, 18:21

Huub Stevens:

We are all disappointed. Everybody who knows me knows that I don’t like losing. One thing I would like to say is that the lads gave everything they could today. The game could have turned out differently if Mark Uth’s goal in the second minute hadn’t been ruled out for offside. Going 1-0 up might have given us that boost we needed. Instead we had to get over the disappointment of the goal being ruled out and then going behind soon after. Leipzig aren’t third in the table for no reason. It was important to get some structure and order in our game again today. The lads did that well and pushed forward well. I saw a few good footballing aspects today. The lads never gave up and did everything they could to try and get a point. The subs also made an impact, which is just how it should be. Our fans also supported us fantastically. Obviously they aren’t happy; I’m the first person to know that. We will train hard over the next two weeks, so that we are ready for the upcoming games.

Ralf Rangnick:

We knew that it wouldn‘t be easy to come here after the situation regarding the coaches. That was clear over the 90 minutes – the atmosphere was different. It was a very important and tough victory for us. Schalke did well in putting us under a lot of pressure, especially in the second half. I would have liked the team to have broken up that pressure with one or two counter attacks. At the end of the day, we are lucky that many of their attempts just missed the target today.

Sebastian Rudy:

We played well but didn’t reward ourselves. But at the end of the day we haven‘t picked up any points. It’s tough to take. Through hard work we will be able to get amongst the goals again. We didn’t manage to do it today but had the chances to do so. However I feel that showed a lot of spirit and put in a good performance today. We put them under pressure well in the second half. However, just playing well doesn’t get you anything – we need to pick up points. We will use the next two weeks to work hard and make progress towards our goals.

Alexander Nübel:

We played a good game but lacked the goals. We linked up well but we weren’t dangerous in the final third. I’m convinced that if we continue to put in the same performances in the coming weeks, we will pick up points. Over the past 48 hours the new coaching team has tried to motivate us a lot. Now, it’s all about using the break to get to grips with the ideas and style of the new team. I turned down the opportunity to link up with the U21 squad because I want to stay with the team and work hard. We need to work a lot to be able to integrate the new ideas into our game and add something significant to our points tally.

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