Kramer: "We lost our way"

Christoph Kramer answered the media’s questions after the disappointing 2-1 defeat to 1. FC Köln in the derby. The midfielder discussed how the match went as well as squad rotation and what the loss means for Borussia.

…the match itself: We had it in our heads the whole time that we simply had to take all three points at home in a derby against Köln, that we needed them to help our position in the table. That’s not good for your mentality, though. We suffered early, annoying and avoidable setbacks in both halves. We gave away goals that you just can’t allow yourselves to concede. That goes without saying. We weren’t really at it at those moments. We always have to be on the ball, that’s really important. After that we rushed things and got sloppy at times. Our positioning was off too. We didn’t stick to our gameplan, we weren’t finding those pockets of space. Our plan definitely wasn’t to launch crosses into a box filled with ten Köln defenders, but they sat really deep and defended diligently. Then the game was what it was, with lots of crosses and us throwing the kitchen sink at them. That’s not really our game.

…squad rotation: We have always rotated a lot over the past 18 months under Marco Rose. It’s always done us good. Our loss yesterday was nothing to do with the changes. The rotation definitely wasn’t the reason for us losing.

…conclusions taken from the match: If we have learned anything from this game it is that we have to approach every fixture as if it were a Champions League match. If you just let a match pass you by, or if you’re even slightly below par, then you will come away with nothing. I don’t want to blame anybody for having that attitude, though. This match just went about as badly as it possibly could. We had to play catch-up twice. Köln had the psychological advantage in both halves and their players then pushed one another on. We were frustrated and lost our rhythm a little bit. It’s normal that the opposition will play for time in the second half. All in all it was a rough day and we lost the derby when three points would have helped us a lot. There’s still a long way to go this season.

…what it means to lose a derby: The derby isn’t just another game. It means a lot to us but this time we lost, unfortunately, and that really hurts us all. Obviously it isn’t nice to have the Köln players celebrating in front of us in the stadium, having to watch them celebrate by the corner flag. But that’s football sometimes. In the first game this season it was us who were celebrating in the corner in Köln.

 …the rumours surrounding head coach Marco Rose: Every season there are players whose future is uncertain beyond the summer. This time around it is our coach. That’s just business as usual. The team doesn’t speak about it. There are some tough tasks ahead of us, so we’re not concerned with what could happens in summer regarding the players, coaches or the sporting director. It’s all hypothetical and doesn’t interest us in the here and now.