Cologne head coach René Wagner responded directly to critical post-match comments from Linton Maina and Tom Krauß following Saturday evening’s 1-1 home draw with Werder Bremen. The hosts began brightly at the RheinEnergieStadion and deservedly took the lead through Maina in the 11th minute.
The hosts nevertheless became increasingly passive thereafter and spent a prolonged period of the second half pinned back before Niclas Füllkrug equalized for Bremen. Maina was particularly forthright afterwards, criticizing the team’s inability to halt such negative phases.
“We were really good in the game and then, as has happened so often, allowed the opponent to come back into it,” Maina said in the mixed zone. “The things that weren’t good concerned communication. Nobody really knew exactly what we were supposed to do.
“We have to find a way to make sure that things don’t simply drift along like that,” Maina continued. We keep having these phases, and that’s completely normal. The big teams have them too, but they’re capable of getting through five or ten bad minutes. With us, it’s always a fairly long period of time.”
Krauß offered a similar assessment from central midfield. The 25-year-old partnered with returning veteran Ellyes Skhiri in the double-six and admitted that the pair failed to find an answer once Bremen began closing down the center.
“I try to find the solution together with Flaco [Skhiri], but we weren’t able to do that in that moment,” Krauß said.
René Wagner responds positively to player criticism
“First off, I can obviously understand that any player would be disappointed after such a game,” Wagner said at the post-match press conference. “We emerged from the locker room with a good feeling that we could win the game. And the lads naturally want to earn the three points here at home.
“And when, for about 20 minutes during the second half, we had the feeling that we were pinned back [in our own half] and couldn’t escape, it’s a tough feeling for everyone,” Wagner continued. “We’ll have to analyze that and find out why that was.
“For me, it’s important that we earned a point against an opponent who is basically on our aspirational level,” Wagner concluded. “It’s also important for us [if we can’t win, at least] not to lose the games, especially at home.”
