Borna Sosa stood in the Berlin mixed zone and looked pretty serious. The white chalk stripes on his thigh testified to a reasonable amount of effort in the 1: 2 of his VfB Stuttgart at Hertha BSC. That was of no use. At the end of a promising week with the cup semi-finals (2:3 against Eintracht Frankfurt) and the duel in Berlin with the option of a big liberation in the relegation battle of the Bundesliga, the Swabians were left with nothing in their hands. That felt pretty stale.
Coach Sebastian Hoeneß seemed caught in a mixture of frustration and defiance. “It’s a result for us that hurts but won’t knock us down,” he said. The VfB coach demanded that you present yourself fresher and with more grip in the final spurt of the season. Sosa went into the analysis clearly. “We didn’t do things with conviction,” complained the 25-year-old. The basic problem for the attacking full-back was a tactical shortcoming.
“I think we have players who are better when they have space,” Sosa stated. There was no such thing against the compact Berliners. “When we play against opponents like Hertha, who defend with ten men, we always have problems. That’s a fact I believe. We need to talk about it,” Sosa demanded.
A glimmer of hope for VfB: The remaining opponents Bayer Leverkusen, Mainz 05 and TSG Hoffenheim are more known for an active style of play. There should be more room for Sosa and his colleagues again. Another encouragement is the table constellation, since Sosa and Hoeneß agree. 28 points and 16th place, two points behind Schalke 04 in 15th place leave all possibilities.
“We’re not in a good situation, but we’re not in the worst situation either. We have to stick together and try to get more points,” said Sosa. A little later, Hoeneß decided against frustration and defiance: “We still have two home games and every chance of staying in class,” said the VfB coach.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230507-99-592466/2