“That’s how we want to look ahead”

Attention has turned to Thursday’s decisive group game against South Korea following Germany’s 2-1 defeat to Colombia. Assistant coach Britta Carlson and defender Kathrin Hendrich spoke to the media to discuss the mood in the camp, bouncing back from Sunday’s defeat and the final group opponents.

Britta Carlson on…

…regrouping after the Colombia game: Of course losing in that way hurts. We wanted to review the game with the team as quickly as possible and we have already gone through the analysis this morning. We are still having individual discussions with the players and we know that not everything was good against Morocco, but not everything was bad against Colombia. That’s how we want to look ahead.

…analysing the game and the goals conceded against Colombia: We worked through how we conceded the goals with our analysts last night. They were both from set-pieces and these are things that shouldn’t happen to us. We also know, however, that we didn’t allow too much at the back, we didn’t allow our opponents too many chances and we had a them under control for the most part. We also didn’t create enough in the final third ourselves, we made too many simple mistakes, we didn’t get into the positions that we wanted and didn’t play with enough courage going forward. These are the things that we have addressed.

…Svenja Huth: It was of course a different task for her in comparison to the Morocco game. She was more constrained by the defence, especially against Caicedo. We didn’t always manage to breakthrough on the right-hand side but we also had lots of chances that we didn’t make use of on the wings. That wasn’t just down to Svenja Huth, but also down to the fact that we didn’t utilise our opportunities out wide when going forward, be it through 1v1 situations or our link-up play.

…things to work on at the top of the pitch: We had lots of chances against Morocco, in the sense that it was against a different type of opponent and even at a World Cup you don’t normally get many chances against opponents on that level. We know what we need to change. We need to get into the positions that we want to more effectively, we need to play quicker, break our opponents down more quickly and make better decisions. This has a lot to do with our processes, which we’ll work on in training again tomorrow.

…possible changes in the starting XI: Of course we’ll discuss possible changes but for now we’re focussing on reviewing yesterday’s game so I can’t say anything just yet.

…Lina Magull: Lina wasn’t fully in the game but that wasn’t down to her, rather the match as a whole.

…injured players: Sydney Lohmann and Marina Hegering could have made an appearance but it would have been more to fill-in, unless they absolutely needed to be used. Sara Doorsoun hasn’t received a diagnosis just yet but it will probably be a muscular injury. We’ll be able to say more after the MRI. Lohmann and Hegering are now both fully fit for the last game and were both involved in today’s training .

…on a possible front two: We can’t rule it out. We have tested it out in the last few games so we could play it. We haven’t spoken about individual positions as a coaching team just yet. It could happen that we go with two strikers against South Korea.

…South Korea: South Korea are a technically proficient side, but they’ll be more defence oriented knowing Colin Bell. For us it’ll be about getting into the box more often and having more presence in attack.

…the right approach: You have to find a healthy balance. We know where our strengths lie. We allowed very little at the back except from set-pieces. We’re on the right track in that sense. In terms of attack, however, we haven’t done enough and we’ve spoken about that very clearly. The players want to hear it how it is in the analysis because they’re very self-critical.

…Jule Brand: Jule is a young player. Against Morocco she was widely praised, she then had a game in which she had an okay first half but it didn’t quite go her way in the second. Just because not everything went to plan over 90 minutes doesn’t mean you have to talk about making a change. We take a close look at how fresh each player is so you don’t need to overstate one performance.

…Sara Doorsoun: She definitely won’t be available in the next game.

…Sophia Kleinherne: We explain the situation to her but it’s of course about finding the best solution for the team. In Huth we have a wide player who is good both in attack and in defence. It’s difficult for Sophia to break through there. The rolls are clearly defined. She also knows that we can use her as a central defender if necessary but she’s our back-up right-back.

Kathrin Hendrich on...

…the mood in the camp: We were all disappointed, we expected much more. We were especially sad due to the manner in which it happened. That was yesterday and our focus now lies on the final group game.

…if the changes at the back had an effect: They honestly did not. You can see that no matter who plays where, they all did a great job. It doesn’t make much difference where they are utilised.

 …the right approach: You can’t gloss over things. It helps us as players to see something on the screen and to see the spaces or situations that you didn’t see in the game in order to improve for the next match. I’m also not a fan of completely disregarding everything because you lost. You should be critical, but it’s also about finding the right mix so we can go into the final group game with self-confidence as opposed to self-doubt.

…South Korea and their coach Colin Bell: Colin was my coach for a few years so I know what he’s about. He’ll give everything, especially against Germany. He’ll get his team fired up and tactically in tune to face us. It’s going to be a tough game for us. If we do the things that we have analysed and start the game with enough confidence, we can definitely walk off the pitch as the winning team. That will be our aim. We’ll be prepared for everything that South Korea will throw at us.