Kramer: “We stopped playing courageous football”

Christoph Kramer took questions from the media following the disappointing 2-1 defeat against VfB Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon. Amongst other things, the midfielder discussed the reasons for the loss and the Foals’ position ahead of the final Bundesliga match of the season.

Christoph Kramer on…

…the reasons for the defeat: Overall, we were the better team in the first half and Stuttgart were much better in the second half. You can see that clearly in the result. We played against a side who are very good on the ball. You can get the better of them if you show a lot of dominance, defend well, press them hard out of possession, and don’t let them play their own game. We did that well in the first half, even though we didn’t create many clear-cut opportunities to score. I thought we did a good job at keeping them in their half up until the break and we also managed to score. After that though, we did what we have done so often when we have had the lead this season. They ran at us in one-on-ones and we just blindly hit long balls forward without going for the second balls. We didn’t link up well as a team. As a result, Stuttgart limited us to our own half and that played into their hands. After the break, we stopped playing courageous football.

…lessons from the 2-1 defeat: We have to learn that we must keep playing football after we get into the lead. We have to play our way out and go for the second balls. This in-between thing we’re doing doesn’t help us at all. When we do that, we lose possession too easily and resort to just punting it long again and again. Then the opposing centre-back just heads it back to his own goalkeeper and they win back possession again. Unfortunately, that’s been a common theme for us this season.

…the Foals’ position ahead of the final Bundesliga match of the season: Naturally, our position is worse now than it was before this game. We don’t need to go into detail about that. Before the Stuttgart game, we had qualification for the Europa Conference League in our own hands, but now that’s no longer the case. On the last day of the season, Union Berlin play Leipzig and we play Werder Bremen. We have to win and Union cannot win. It’s as simple as that.

…the Europa Conference League: Playing European football is always something I enjoy, no matter which stadium it is. The Conference League is a new, very attractive competition. It would be a great thing for us to compete in it. Looking at the depth and quality of our squad, it’s important that we can compete in three competitions next season. As a player, you obviously want to be playing as often as possible and there’s many more opportunities to do so if we’re competing in three competitions. That’s why we’ll give it everything we’ve got to win our final match.

…the game against Werder Bremen: For Bremen, it’s all about staying up in the last game of the season, but it’s also a huge game for us. We definitely want to be playing in Europe next season. It’s going to be a very intense game, just like every match in the Bundesliga. We have to be prepared for Bremen to have that emotional boost. We have to be able to hold our own against that.