#KOETSG Match Reaction: "We deserved the win"

Julian Nagelsmann: “The only point of criticism I have is that we should have been further up at half-time. We had a chance right at the end of the half, but that’s part of football. We played very well with a lot of young players today. Posch and Akpoguma showed a lot of courage at the back. That was impressive. Kevin Vogt did very well in an unfamiliar position and Florian Grillitsch in midfield, too. We showed what we’re capable of and I only have compliments because we were under a bit of pressure.”

Peter Stöger: “Hoffenheim deserved to win. They were very good offensively and caused us a lot of problems. They didn’t make many mistakes in their passing game and we had to do a lot of running. Jojic’s shot against the post might have changed the game, but TSG were better overall. We were second-best in many areas.”

Alexander Rosen: “The second goal was very important. It gave us some security. This was a brilliant away performance. Köln had won in midweek and really wanted to win again today. It wasn’t easy, but I’m very pleased. October was a tough month, so the result today was even more important. Akpoguma, Geiger, Prosch are all playing extremely well, and though I don’t normally signal out individuals for praise, Florian Grillitsch was very impressive. We’ll return home feeling very good. Hopefully, Bicakcic, Szalai and Gnabry will come back soon.

Sandro Wagner: “Perhaps the 3-0 makes it look easy but it was anything but that. Köln played well. They have a huge amount of pressure on them and have their backs up against the wall. We wanted to win here and did that. I’m glad that we are now up to fifth place. That is great stuff, because people do not have the expectations on us to be a top team. We have been playing with a young group for weeks, especially in defence, and have been doing very well. We have always been fresh. We are dealing with the work load well, although we have rarely been able to rotate our forwards since many of them have had injuries.”

Dennis Geiger: “This was a very important away game for us. We knew that it would be tough because Köln had a lot to play for but we were excellently prepared for this. We played it out really well from the back, created chances and took enough of them. The victory was never really in doubt. Nadiem set me up nicely, there was some luck involved but I’m very pleased that it came off.” 

Florian Grillitsch: “It was a great team performance from start to finish. Köln had chances, but overall the 3-0 result was deserved. It was always going to be a little difficult adapting to the new club and the new city, but I feel more at home here every day. It feels great to get the win today. I feel good in training and am beginning to understand how the team works.”

Kevin Vogt: “The win is no salvation because our past results haven’t been great, though they weren’t awful either. We weren’t able to score the second, but we deserved the win. We performed from the first whistle. Congratulations to the whole team. We played the ball out well from the back and created a lot of chances up front.”

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