Jurgen Ekkelenkamp on the pitch.
First team | January 9, 2022, 06:18 PM

“We can’t let that happen”

Hertha started the game with courage and good structure, but allowed their opponents to come into the game more and more and, despite a goal which halved the deficit, lost the first game of 2022 at home to FC Köln. The boys in blue and white appeared visibly disappointed in their interviews after the final whistle. “We missed a huge chance, and then conceded the first goal straight away. That was tough to take – it was the turning point of the game,” explained goalscorer Vladimír Darida. herthabsc.com have all the initial reactions to the defeat here.

Lukas Klünter: The game did not go the way we thought it would. We started well and had chances, but didn’t take them in the end. The two goals we conceded quickly unsettled us more than they should have, and sadly we haven’t been able to climb up the table with a win like we wanted to. We shouldn’t be where we are given the quality we have, but we just can’t seem to take these important wins when we need them – that’s a shame and extremely annoying. On a personal level, I’m happy to have made my comeback. It was important for me, but the annoyance i feel over the defeat is stronger at the moment.

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We were just not composed enough on the ball in the final third at important times; that was our biggest issue.
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-Vladimír Darida

Vladimír Darida: We had several opportunities to net the opener in the first half. We missed a huge chance, and then conceded the first goal straight away. That was tough to take – it was the turning point of the game. We did much better in the second half and earned the goal we scored. We were just not composed enough on the ball in the final third at important times; that was our biggest issue. Despite the condition of the pitch we played some good stuff with the ball at our feet; we need to keep doing that and improve how we do.

Jurgen Ekkelenkamp: This wasn’t a game we should have lost. We had a lot of chances in the second half and conceded the first goal straight after missing our biggest one. We can’t let that happen. We did very well in the first 20 minutes but then Köln grew into the game. Our performance was not great all in all, but we have a big chance to do better against Wolfsburg next week.

by Hertha BSC