“Football can be brilliant, but also brutal”

Despite a decent performance and an improvement on recent weeks, FSV were left empty-handed on Saturday against VfB Stuttgart. Those involved were extremely frustrated, but still believed it was a small step in the right direction.

POST-MATCH REACTION

Martin Schmidt: “We played better in the first half than we did last time out and fought hard. We only allowed them their first chance just before the break. Nevertheless, we didn’t do enough going forwards. We got ourselves back in the game in the second half with the equaliser after the changes, but then made mistakes and invited them onto us. It was clear to see that we are lacking a bit of confidence at the moment. We need to get that back – that’s something that the coach has spoken about. One point from the first four games is a poor start. Here at Mainz 05 though, we can accept that – it’s not the first time we’re in this kind of a situation. I’m confident that we’ll improve with each week and get back on track.”

Stefan Bell: “This result hurts because we played well for large parts of the game. We kept things tight against a strong attack and mostly kept their forwards quiet. Almost every challenge we lost in the last 30 minutes led to a Stuttgart goal, which just shows the quality they possess. We’re disappointed, particularly because we were closer to going ahead than them after our equaliser. We now have to process this game. I wanted to defend aggressively for their first goal and unfortunately missed the ball. We’ve had runs like this in recent years and just need to find a win from somewhere now.”

Leandro Barreiro: "We’re hugely disappointed because we did a lot of what we wanted to today, but still lost after conceding three goals. We felt like we could come from behind to win the game after our equaliser. Football can be brilliant, but also extremely brutal. Mistakes are punished, though that isn’t something new. We simply have to keep on going. Our aim is to get all three points next weekend in Augsburg.”