St. Pauli Coach Critiques Players After Bundesliga Defeat

FC St. Pauli’s head coach Alexander Blessin publicly criticized two of his players, Eric Smith and Tomoya Ando, after their loss in the Bundesliga on Friday evening. While Blessin acknowledged the impressive free-kick from Kevin Stöger of Borussia Mönchengladbach, he expressed frustration about the circumstances that led to conceding such a goal.

Blessin Critiques Eric Smith’s Performance

Eric Smith, a central defender who was moved to midfield due to James Sands’ injury, allowed Stöger to score from a free kick after striking Gladbach’s Yannik Engelhardt in the face with a high boot. Although Smith is not typically positioned as a midfielder, he has enough experience to have avoided the mistake.

“Eric needs to be more mentally alert in those moments,” Blessin remarked during the post-match press conference. “He should be quicker to react near the back line. You can’t let that kind of situation arise. It doesn’t matter if your view isn’t clear. Position yourself to block. Take the ball with you, and this won’t happen.”

Blessin Frustrated with Defensive Lapses on Second Goal

St. Pauli performed significantly better in the second half compared to their opponents. However, they conceded a crucial second goal in the 62nd minute against the flow of play. Franck Honorat and Joe Scally created the goal, capitalizing on a lapse in focus from new signing Tomoya Ando, as well as a halfhearted effort from Hauke Wahl in defense.

“We weren’t pressing effectively,” Blessin said. “We were too passive and assumed the ball had already been cleared. We were punished for our sluggish defensive movements.”

Summary from Blessin and St. Pauli Players

Both Blessin and center forward Danel Sinani emphasized that despite their mistakes leading to the goals, the overall performance of the team was not wholly inadequate. Aside from those two errors, St. Pauli had a decent outing, and there remains a sense of hope within the camp, notably from goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj.

Blessin’s team previously accumulated ten points across their last five league matches, with only Bayern and RB Leipzig earning more points in that period. Vasilj was close to achieving a club record, and had Stöger’s strike not found the net, he could have set a new record of 286 minutes without conceding a Bundesliga goal.

“It didn’t feel like a 0-2 loss because I don’t believe Gladbach was better than us today,” Blessin noted. “We essentially gave them two decisive opportunities. We need to be more composed in critical moments.”

“We didn’t allow much to pass through defensively,” Blessin added. “A 0-0 result would have been fair. However, our need for points is pressing, and that’s frustrating.”

“It was essential for us to win this match,” Sinani stated. “In the end, it was the little details that made the difference. We made two errors, and the opposition capitalized on them.”

“Everything seemed to go wrong for us,” Vasilj remarked in the mixed zone. “But we’ve faced tougher challenges before. We will bounce back!”

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