The holders have been knocked out of the DFB-Pokal. FC Bayern were defeated 6-5 on a shootout by (2-2 aet) by Holstein Kiel. Bayern head coach Hansi Flick shares his thoughts on the defeat with DFB.de.
DFB.de: Mr Flick, you already said in your TV interview that you are very disappointed. In your view, have there been any signs in recent weeks that something isn’t right in the team, perhaps with the motivation?
Hansi Flick: No. In terms of motivation, I can’t make any criticism of my team. They tried for 120 minutes to reach the next round. I think it’s the little things that all came together in this game. The equaliser before half-time is a goal we have conceded many times. We’ve talked about that. We said that we need to sure things up in the middle. We didn’t do that for the first goal. Then we retook the lead at the start of the second half with a great free kick from Leroy Sané.
DFB.de: That would have been enough for the win, but you conceded the second goal late in stoppage time…
Flick: Our positioning in the box wasn’t idea. Especially so soon before full time, you have to be trying to stop those crosses, or at least then to clear from the middle and find some shape for the 1v1s. But the goal came. That’s just what we’re going through right now. But we keep going. We need to look ahead, we have a lot of work to do. There are no more excuses. We have showed for 120 minutes that we are fit and can put in the effort. Too many matches, too little rest, but that’s done. We have to look ahead to our next task and start playing winning football. We need to get that back.
DFB.de: Bastian Schweinsteiger said on ARD that the back four stands too high up the pitch, hence why the first equaliser came about. Do you share that opinion?
Flick: We’ve discussed and trained these situations. You need to secure the space behind. That has nothing to do with a high backline. Our way of playing revolves around putting our opponents under pressure. We didn’t quite do that as we would have liked. You also have to say that Kiel have a very good way of playing and they put on a real cup fight. They resisted us with everything they had.
DFB.de: Are you disappointed that your team let the game slip away like that?
Flick: The first equaliser is obviously quite disappointing, because we’ve seen it happen time and again. We need to work on the things that we need to improve on – not just off the ball, but with. When I look at the chances we create on the wings, we often needed to do better with the final pass. There’s room for improvement.
DFB.de: Are you thinking about adjusting your style of play and developing a Plan B?
Flick: We already made some changes today. We didn’t play as we usually would have. We don’t have a Plan A. It’s always something we think about in the coaching team, how we want to approach things. It’s not like we’re not thinking about these things.
DFB.de: Marc Roca was one of your best players in extra time, but then missed the decisive penalty. Do you need to build up his confidence now?
Flick: I don’t think anyone is blaming him. Penalty shootouts are decided by missed penalties. Unfortunately, it happened to be Marc. We stand together and will support him.
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The holders have been knocked out of the DFB-Pokal. FC Bayern were defeated 6-5 on a shootout by (2-2 aet) by Holstein Kiel. Bayern head coach Hansi Flick shares his thoughts on the defeat with DFB.de.
DFB.de: Mr Flick, you already said in your TV interview that you are very disappointed. In your view, have there been any signs in recent weeks that something isn’t right in the team, perhaps with the motivation?
Hansi Flick: No. In terms of motivation, I can’t make any criticism of my team. They tried for 120 minutes to reach the next round. I think it’s the little things that all came together in this game. The equaliser before half-time is a goal we have conceded many times. We’ve talked about that. We said that we need to sure things up in the middle. We didn’t do that for the first goal. Then we retook the lead at the start of the second half with a great free kick from Leroy Sané.
DFB.de: That would have been enough for the win, but you conceded the second goal late in stoppage time…
Flick: Our positioning in the box wasn’t idea. Especially so soon before full time, you have to be trying to stop those crosses, or at least then to clear from the middle and find some shape for the 1v1s. But the goal came. That’s just what we’re going through right now. But we keep going. We need to look ahead, we have a lot of work to do. There are no more excuses. We have showed for 120 minutes that we are fit and can put in the effort. Too many matches, too little rest, but that’s done. We have to look ahead to our next task and start playing winning football. We need to get that back.
DFB.de: Bastian Schweinsteiger said on ARD that the back four stands too high up the pitch, hence why the first equaliser came about. Do you share that opinion?
Flick: We’ve discussed and trained these situations. You need to secure the space behind. That has nothing to do with a high backline. Our way of playing revolves around putting our opponents under pressure. We didn’t quite do that as we would have liked. You also have to say that Kiel have a very good way of playing and they put on a real cup fight. They resisted us with everything they had.
DFB.de: Are you disappointed that your team let the game slip away like that?
Flick: The first equaliser is obviously quite disappointing, because we’ve seen it happen time and again. We need to work on the things that we need to improve on – not just off the ball, but with. When I look at the chances we create on the wings, we often needed to do better with the final pass. There’s room for improvement.
DFB.de: Are you thinking about adjusting your style of play and developing a Plan B?
Flick: We already made some changes today. We didn’t play as we usually would have. We don’t have a Plan A. It’s always something we think about in the coaching team, how we want to approach things. It’s not like we’re not thinking about these things.
DFB.de: Marc Roca was one of your best players in extra time, but then missed the decisive penalty. Do you need to build up his confidence now?
Flick: I don’t think anyone is blaming him. Penalty shootouts are decided by missed penalties. Unfortunately, it happened to be Marc. We stand together and will support him.
