Bochum remain confident even after latest loss: "This team is alive."
The VfL head-coach and his lead striker both sought to emphasize the positives that could be gleaned from Saturday's loss and insisted they felt confident against a tough set of upcoming opponents.
Were it not for a weak penalty take from VfL Bochum substitute Lukas Daschner, the Bundesliga's last-placed team might have picked up a morale-boosting point in Sinsheim on Saturday afternoon. Daschner missed a chance to equalize for the Revierklub in the 89th. After that, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim substitute Haris Tabakovic found the back of the net in injury-time.
The match thus concluded with a somewhat flattering 3-1 scoreline for the hosts. Bochum still seek their first win of the season. The latest loss regrettably came after an intense international break during which the team picked up some traction in a high-profile test fixture against Köln. Despite this, those associated with the club are in no mood to capitulate.
VfL trainer Peter Zeidler and striker Philipp Hofmann both commented on the unfortunate turn-of-events later, seeking to emphasize the positives that could be taken from the result. Hofmann pointed out Bochum have recently toppled heavily favored opponents such as Leverkusen (2023), Stuttgart (2024), and Bayern (2024).
"We've once again shown today that we're capable of competing in the Bundesliga," Hofmann told the Sky microphones afterwards, "I know my teammates and I know the club. We're always capable of coming back. It doesn't matter who comes next as we did beat favored opponents at home last year."
"You saw what happened in the second half," Zeidler added later at his post-match presser, "We're in agreement that we played a poor first half right up until the 40th minute. You witnessed a team come back. We should have scored the 2-2. Then we might have scored the 3-2. But, this team is alive."
"We have good guys who can carry us forward," Zeidler continued, "We absolutely need points. We could have gotten one today. It should be clear that I'm focused on industrious training. I'm the trainer of VfL Bochum and will hopefully be the trainer for a very long time. I can promise you that we'll keep at it."
"The points will come," Zeidler concluded, "Of that, I'm convinced. Regarding this team, it's all about avoiding relegation. Everyone knows that. Everyone in this room knows that. We'll focus on this objective and accomplish it as well."