Hofmann: “We have to keep working hard and keep believing in ourselves”

Jonas Hofmann spoke to the media following Borussia’s 2-1 defeat against Mainz 05. The 28 year old discussed reasons for the defeat and looked ahead to the upcoming tasks.

Jonas Hofmann on…

… reasons behind the loss: The defeat is very tough. I think that we were better than Mainz in phases in individual battles and before the goal. We had chances to take the lead when it was 1-1, but didn’t play well around their area on two or three occasions. We gave away these chances too easily and were too careless. Most of the time, we were missing the final pass or step and therefore we didn't go ahead. We weren't consistent enough when it mattered and unfortunately we conceded at our end late on. Overall, we didn't allow them much in the second half. The one chance - if you can call it a real chance - was the one that led to their second goal and we allowed it. It's very tough to take bitter, but unfortunately that seemed to be fair given how the game went.

… the alleged impact of the decision of Marco Rose to leave at the end of the season on the game: That decision doesn't play any kind of role. I know that there is a lot of talk about it, but it doesn't affect us as a team at all. I know how our team works and everything was discussed openly and internally. The team has taken the decision very professionally. And we'll continue to give our all in every game - just like before. I don't see any no reason to link the result with Marco Rose's decision.

… going four Bundesliga games without a win: Of course, we are measured by our results, but you also have to analyse the performances. I think we've been on an upward trend recently. After the derby defeat against Köln, we clearly improved again last week at Wolfsburg. We showed a lot of what was missing in the past two weeks or so We won't let ourselves be talked into a bad spell. We have a lot of midweek games and exciting matches coming up and a negative mood won't help at all, not does it suit us as a team. We always take a positive approach.

... the upcoming tasks: We have a team that can handle big tasks. We've already proven several times this season that we can compete with the big teams, but of course you have to win games like the one against Mainz to get into a good run of form and get a good feeling. If you don't win games like that, you don't feel exactly productive on a personal level, so we have to tick it off quickly and put it behind us. At the end of the day, we just have to keep working hard and keep believing in ourselves. We now have a lot of midweek games ahead of us, which means a game every three days, so it should be an exciting time.