FIRST TEAM
04/30/2011

Reaction against VfB Stuttgart

For the second week running, taking the lead wasn't enough. 1899 Hoffenheim suffered another disappointing loss to local rivals VfB Stuttgart in the Baden-Württemberg derby. Here's what those involved had to say about the match:

Marco Pezzaiuoli: I'm really disappointed. Once again we started the match strongly by playing good football and deservedly took the lead. After that we didn't take out opportunities to extend the lead to 2-0. The goals were conceded were down to some really silly mistakes given that they both came from throw-ins. I have to give credit to the team for fighting until the very end and showing a lot of passion. Unfortunately for us it's another derby that we've failed to win.

Bruno Labbadia: This is a huge win for us. Hoffenheim put us under an enormous amount of pressure early on, but the team handled it really well. The team definitely took a while to recover after we went a goal behind. Hoffenheim were playing some really good football and it meant we couldn't impose ourselves on the match. The fact we managed to turn the game on it's head in the second half is brilliant. We had a lot of good chances, but were slightly lucky with the effort that hit the post.

Tom Starke: For an hour of the match we were in complete control, playing good football and taking advantage of Stuttgart's nervousness. The way we let them get back into the match by making basic errors was ridiculous though. However, our dedication and willingness to run cannot be faulted. Even after VfB's second goal we were still looking to score an equaliser. Our inability to keep our concentration in the closing stages is what has cost us all season.

Andreas Beck: We played really well in the first half and we were really building on the positives from the first half against Leverkusen, but in the second half we held too high a line and it left us prone to the counter-attack.

Peniel Mlapa: I certainly gambled on the back pass by Tasci and when I saw that Ulreich couldn't control the ball I was determined to seize the opportunity. In the end taking an aggressive approach definitely paid off.

Christian Träsch: We were unlucky to go behind the way we did. In the half-time break we went about solving the problems we were having and deserved the victory by the end of the match.

 

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