"It feels great to be in second"
Following the 2-1 away win at Werder Bremen, head coach Marco Rose, Xaver Schlager, Willi Orbán and Janis Blaswich gave their reactions
Marco Rose
- "It was the tough game we expected against a tough opponent: I think that we played well in the first half and went deservedly in front. However, we had to be very cautious in looking after our lead. The second half was relatively open. The opposition reacted well to being behind. Ultimately, we gave everything we had to defending our advantage; we know that Werder have a knack for scoring late. But we defended the threats and are happy about our win."
Xaver Schlager
- "I wasn’t the matchwinner, the team was! I am happy that was able to help with a goal, but ultimately it’s the team’s win. It was once again a tough game, but we stayed resilient and won out in the end.
We train hard every day, do a lot of analysis and look at what we can do better. We’re in a good place at the minute, we’ve got a lot of self-confidence. Of course, the last few weeks begin to take a toll, we’re a little tired – but that’s the job that we all love!"
Everything you need to know about #SVWRBL
Willi Orbán
- "Our reaction to the opposition’s equaliser was very impressive. It shows that we’ve got that power and that we’re physically fit. We’ve been winning everything in recent weeks – it doesn’t get better than that! We’ve worked ourselves into an excellent position to start the second half of the season in. It feels brilliant to end the year knowing that.
We know what sort of potential this squad has. There’s no guarantee it will keep on going like this, but that’s where the coaching staff have played a huge role. The relationship between the squad and the coach is great at the moment, and I’m convinced it can remain that way in the long term."
Janis Blaswich
- "We know what we would be dealing with today. Werder are a very tough opponent at home, and we were aware that there was little room for error, especially in front of a crowd like theirs. We did really well and made plenty of chances. After they made it 1-1 with a deflected shot, Werder noticed their opportunity to strike again, tried a lot of long balls. We held firm. The statistics are clearly on our side, we know it’s a well deserved win.
It feels great to be second, but we've played very intensively in the last few weeks regardless of where we are in the table – put in a lot of work and did really well as a team. When you have a run like that, you’d prefer to just keep on playing through the winter, but now we can take a step back, rebuild some new strength and energy and get ready to go all-out again in January."