"Today, the balance was not quite right": Reactions from Wolfsburg following 1-1 draw | OneFootball

After a fourth consecutive match at home without a win, the VfL Wolfsburg players and coaches spoke to the media following their 1-1 draw with a relegation-fighting FC St. Pauli side.

As a result of the game, FC St. Pauli, who were fifteenth in the table going into this match, remain undefeated against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga all-time (1-5-0), while Wolfsburg sit just one point out of European competition after Freiburg and Leipzig played to a scoreless draw.

Maximilian Arnold, the captain who was surprisingly cleared to play in the final hours before the start of the match, was first to speak to the media, and said that “I did not think we played so well in the first half, we made the incorrect decisions a bit too often, we did not play clearly enough, and we are falling behind once again."

He also added, “To be honest, it is slightly annoying, it is also good when we score first, and I think we showed our better side in the second 45, but today, the balance was not quite right. We made a lot of mistakes, sometimes played sloppily; we came back in the second 45 and in my opinion we deserved to equalise, but this afternoon, we were slightly lacking.”

Regarding what Wolfsburg could have done better, and will aim to do better next week, Arnold said, “I believe that in many situations, we need to be calmer on the ball, need to play more clearly.”

Mattias Svanberg, who took the captaincy prior to Arnold coming in, stated regarding the draw, “The focus will always be to win the match, the want to win it no matter who we play against - we need to analyse the match, recover well and try to remain positive."

Wolfsburg coach Ralph Hasenhüttl was asked about the performance of his team in the press conference that followed, and said to the media that in the first half, “there were a lot of situations played too hastily” and summarised Wolfsburg's chances as “nothing really compelling”.

However, he stated each change that was made gradually helped in the second 45: "We tried to get new energy into our match with the changes. Maxi [Arnold] returned to give me a bit of stability to the team and more of a structure, but it did not become better; I think it was only with Kuba [Jakub Kamiński] and Bence [Dárdai] entering that there was more of a punch.”

When asked to elaborate on Kamiński's impact, he praised the 22-year-old left winger: “I know that with his quality, he is an alternative for me in various positions, and that is why I am very happy he came in this afternoon and played well.”

The 57-year-old Austrian was asked about Wolfsburg's home record, which is now 3-6-4 this season, and replied that “At home, we are suffering at the moment from the fact that in such close matches, we typically fall behind (in some categories), primarily from set pieces, we do not force much but we get a goal from it, that was the case in our last few home matches.”

The next match for VfL Wolfsburg is next Saturday, 15.30 (CET) against FC Augsburg at the WWK Arena; a win, plus a Leipzig defeat to Dortmund and a Freiburg defeat to Mainz, means that Die Wölfe move into the top five of the Bundesliga table on goal differential. As for FC St. Pauli, they face TSG Hoffenheim at the Millerntor-Stadion the evening before, with kickoff set for 20.30 (CET).