Friedl fumes over Bremen’s late conceded goal: “It’s because we’re stupid!”

SV Werder Bremen squad captain Marco Friedl couldn’t disguise his disgust with his team’s concession of a late goal when speaking to the Sky microphones following last night’s 2-3 loss to Hoffenheim. 

Only seconds after Jens Stage netted a late equalizer to send the hometown crowd at the Weserstadion into rapture last night, a Marius Bülter tally at 90+3 sunk SV Werder Bremen in yesterday evening’s Bundesliga “Top-Spiel”. The result sent Bremen to their second straight defeat entering the coming international break Ole Werner’s Hanseaten now occupy 14th-place in the Bundesliga table on a meager six points through seven match-days. 

Bremen’s young captain Marco Friedl clearly hadn’t recovered from the emotional rollercoaster taking place in second half injury time when conducting his post-match interview last night. The 25-year-old Austrian international expressed frustration with how the team’s passionate fight back to claim the equalizer was erased with shoddy defending. Friedl let slip a diatribe in which he chastised his team for conceding the first two Hoffenheim goals as well. 

“Because we’re stupid!” Friedl said when asked why the team allowed Marius Bülter’s late 3-2, “I can’t put it any other way. The whole second half we were better and after the break we fought our way to a 2-2 in injury time – only to get the 2:3 shortly afterwards. As I said before: simply stupid.”

“It’s a long ball, then there’s a throw-in for the opponent – and then the back is completely open,” Friedl continued, “I’m only talking about the one goal, but there were many little things that we didn’t do right today. That’s why, unfortunately, the bottom line is: it’s our own fault.”

“We are simply not compact enough,” he went on, “We are simply too far apart. That doesn’t always have something to do with the defense. I don’t want to blame it on anyone. It’s our responsibility as a team to defend better, and – with all due respect – You can’t concede 2-3 after you’e just leveled 2-2.”

SV trainer Ole Werner was a bit more composed when speaking to the Sky interview team. The Bremen gaffer did wish to emphasize that the team’s spirit and drive in pursuit of the second half equalizer had left him “optimistic about the future”. Despite the fact that Bremen’s forthcoming schedule – Dortmund, Union, and Wolfsburg – is a tough one, Werner called the second-half “encouraging”. 

“That’s extremely bitter and we should reproach ourselves for it,” Werner said of last night’s result, “The fact that we were behind again in a direct counterattack. That shouldn’t happen to us from a throw-in. That’s what costs you points in the end in such close games.”

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