Schalke had expected a different scenario. For the beginning of the second season they wanted to prove that, despite falling behind considerably, they were still a force to be reckoned with in the fight for Champions League berths. But they lost their fixture in Hannover 0-1 (0-1), and in the process the “Royal Blues” sustained yet another blow to their prospects.
In an interview after the final whistle the Schalke sporting director Andreas Müller analysed the match.
Question: Mr. Müller, how would you assess the performance of your team in its 0-1 defeat in Hannover?
Andreas Müller: To start off the second half of the season this way is a real blow. The team played good football. But we somehow just couldn’t score.
Question: What will this failed start mean for Schalkes high ambitions?
Müller: There is always pressure. We still have nearly the entire second half of the season with nine home games ahead of us, but now we cannot let ourselves slip up again.
Question: Your team´s lack of finishing was evident. How do you explain the failure to score, despite so many good chances?
Müller: If you want to take all three points, you have to score goals. The only thing you can fault the team with is its waste of chances. I don´t know whether we lacked a bit of concentration or if we were simply cursed.
Question: Do you thing that your strikers possess enough quality for a push to the top third of the table?
Müller: Lack of quality is not the problem. Our forwards have shown that they can score goals, both in the Bundesliga and in their national teams. I am convinced that our forwards will score the goals we need to reach our goal.
Translated by Gideon Stanton