Bayer Leverkusen finish the first half of the season in a Champions League place – and yet the mood was not good after the 1:2 Freiburg defeat. Robert Andrich and Jonathan Tah found clear words.
Andrich was visibly annoyed when he appeared in front of the DAZN microphone and was not sparing with his criticism after the 1:2 in Freiburg. “We were too well-behaved again, we didn’t defend resolutely,” said the midfielder and took his teammates to task. “We are clearly conceding far too many goals,” Andrich stated and found clear words, “that we want to defend goals. We think we’ll do it somehow with our offensive players. That’s not how it’s going to be. We have to realise quickly that defence is crucial.”
Accordingly, the defence was not up to scratch – and because the attacking department in Breisgau then also acted unusually harmlessly (“We had too few solutions and therefore so few scoring chances”), the result was defeat – or as Andrich said: “Again we look at ourselves and lost the game. “
The 27-year-old was particularly annoyed about Freiburg’s winning goal. The goal was preceded by a chain of unfortunate Leverkusen actions. First Daley Sinkgraven was brought down in a one-on-one, so Jonathan Tah had to come out to prevent Ermedin Demirovic’s cross, which he failed to do. Then Sinkgraven stood badly in the five, while goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky came out far too hesitantly. So Kevin Schade, who by the way had escaped Andrich, seized the chance by the head and scored for 2:1.
Seoane sees responsibility with the collective
Coach Gerardo Seoane did not want to criticise individual players, rather the Swiss noted that “the action started earlier” and that such things are almost always about “collective behaviour”, although he too knew that “Jonathan could have pressed more and Daley could have blocked the space better”.
We need to get more of a winning mentality in us.
Tah admitted he was unhappy with the defeat and was self-critical. “The second goal must not happen, that was too easy, I have to put more pressure on the flank,” said the defender, saying that you can’t always talk your way out of it, you are “a young team”. Tah didn’t question the team’s mentality (“I’m not saying anyone didn’t want to.”), but he demanded: “We need to get more of a winning mentality into us, we need to be more consistent. “
