Virkus: “Losing a derby is always a terrible feeling”

In an interview, Borussia’s sporting director Roland Virkus spoke about yesterday’s 3-1 derby defeat against 1. FC Köln and the disappointment of the fans.

Roland, a day later, what are your thoughts on the derby defeat?

Virkus: First and foremost, having been part of all the meetings and having been around the team a lot in the last weeks, I could tell that the lads had set high expectations for themselves. We wanted to take an aggressive approach to the derby and win it, of course. The problem with this team right now, however, is that it’s too easy to knock them off their rhythm when something unpredictable happens, such as a change from our opponents or conceding an early goal, like we did on the weekend. Of course, you should still try to play the game the way you had set out to do. Instead, we become unsettled and too shaky. It’s not impossible to come back from 2-0 down. But, the team just weren’t able to do it. That’s something that we’ve been dealing with all season, and we need to become better at dealing with set-backs.

That’s despite Borussia picking up 10 points in the last four games…

Virkus: Yes, and we worked hard to pick up these points. We are coming out of a tough situation that we’ve managed to dig ourselves out of, which can’t be underestimated. 1. FC Köln haven’t had the same burdens. They aren’t over-thinking things and are playing with courage. We don’t have that. We wanted to win, but so did Köln. They were more relaxed about it, however, while we were too tense. That’s not helpful.

Does that then lead to losses of possession or conceding easy goals?

Virkus: Absolutely, although the goals we conceded were the results of several small errors in the end. Everyone contributed towards us losing the game; there are not just one, two or three people that are to blame. Oftentimes, it is preventable errors that just add up: a late sprint, not marking close enough – that can all cause you to concede. It’s not that the lads don’t want to play. The fact is that they weren’t in the right place mentally to turn things around after conceding so early yesterday and to achieve what they had set out to do.

Is the nine-point gap over 16th place with four games left still enough heading into the closing stages of the season?

Virkus: Anyone who thinks that the season is over already is making a huge mistake. We still have four games left and the responsibility to ensure that we end it as strongly as possible. That’s obvious, and that’s what I expect from each and every player. We can’t relax just yet and need to try to take points from every game.

After the game there were discussions between several angry fans inside BORUSSIA-PARK and yourself, vice-president Rainer Bonhof, CEO Stephan Schippers, assistant coach Frank Geideck and several players...

Virkus: I can understand the disappointment from the fans. Losing a derby is always a terrible feeling. We all had high expectations. The stadium was finally full again after such a long time and the atmosphere was great. The fans were expecting a successful game. When you’re 3-0 down at half-time then I can understand that it has a negative impact on the mood. It might have looked a bit threatening, the way the group were amassed in front of the steps. In other places, maybe these kinds of situations might escalate from time to time. However, I’m glad that at Borussia we have a culture of talking things out and that we can discuss things civilly. In the end, these fans only wanted an explanation. Our fans want to see that we are doing everything in order to be successful on the pitch. They don’t just want to hear that from us, but they also want to see it. That’s their right! Of course we now have to show a reaction. Everyone has to ask themselves: what did I do wrong so that we weren’t able to be successful as a team?