“Good start to the year” | OneFootball

Head coach Dino Toppmöller, Kevin Trapp and Robin Koch with the reaction following the 1-0 win at FC St. Pauli.

Head coach Dino Toppmöller: “It’s a good start to the new year. We put into practice what we set out to do. It was a good response to the results before the winter break. We played really well in the first 30 minutes, with good control, defensive cover and a deserved lead. After that, St. Pauli came into the ascendancy. It was an entertaining game. To then get a result, you also need a good keeper and that bit of luck, which we’d been lacking in previous weeks. Credit also to St. Pauli for their performance.”

Kevin Trapp: “It was hard work towards the end, we had to defend a lot of long balls and crosses. We did a lot to win here. It feels good after the game, 1-0 sounds almost perfect. If we look over the 90 minutes, though, there are still things we can do better. We didn’t offer enough after going in front, particularly in the second half. Of course, St. Pauli came back into it and wanted to get something at home. We have to look at it again.”

Robin Koch: “It was extremely important after the winter break to start with a win. That was our aim and we succeeded. It’s a feature of St. Pauli’s style of play that they pack the box with a lot of players, attack with six or seven guys and hit crosses. Then you’re outnumbered and it’s normal that someone’s left free. You can only prevent that by increasing the pressure earlier. Nevertheless, we defended well for the most part – obviously St. Pauli had one or two chances. If we’d put away one or two of the chances at the other end, which we normally convert, that changes the dynamic of the game.”