Stindl: “We have to turn it around”

Lars Stindl faced the media after Borussia’s 4-1 defeat to RB Leipzig. The skipper discussed the reasons for the loss, the current sporting situation and more.

Lars Stindl on…

…the run of play: In the first half we didn't play well at all. After that we got our teeth into it. The second half was completely fine, at least in terms of the basic requirements of effort, input and putting up a fight. In the second half we fought back and we tried everything to avoid defeat. And then we got one or two chances, though we didn’t have the urgency that you’d normally expect from us. But maybe that’s no surprise given the events of the last ten days. We made life hard for ourselves. We were too ponderous and not sharp enough. And we made simple mistakes, giving up two unnecessary goals playing out from the back. We defended chaotically and not cohesively. Everyone wanted to be the guy to pull us out of it, but we didn’t defend as a team. Football only works when you play together. We have to work on that as soon as possible. And so in the end we were beaten 4-1.

…the reasons for the defeat: We weren’t focused enough at the crucial moments, we didn’t concentrate right. We made it hard for ourselves to play as well. That’s down to the individual mistakes that we keep on making. One or too sloppy passes keep creeping in, or we’ll go and miss a challenge. Then everyone has to come running back again. So things like that happen and it leads to a run of play where the opponent eventually ends up in front of goal. We definitely have to change that – and that goes for every player individually as well as the whole team as a unit.

…the current situation: Unfortunately we keep having periods like we had in the first half against Leipzig. We can continue to take the positives from the good phases that we have in the game but the bottom line is that we lost 4-1. We have conceded 14 goals in the last three matches. We are aware of the situation and only hard work will pay off. We need to do that as soon as possible. We have to turn this difficult period around and we will only get out of this together.

…how the team is dealing with the losses: Internally we are discussing issues very clearly. We talk about things and we know where the problems lie. But we have to act on it too. We have to work at it because right now most things just aren’t coming off for us on the pitch.

…the side being a team: We have a lot of good lads in the team but we have to show that on the pitch as well. We have to get to work quickly because we find ourselves in a dangerous situation. The team is definitely a team and none of us have ever thought any differently.