Höwedes bemoans lack of determination in Gladbach
30.11.2009
They had given their all, but in the end they were left empty-handed. The disappointment felt by the Schalke players after the defeat at the BORUSSIA PARK was put into words by Benedikt Höwedes after the final whistle.
"The manager is annoyed and justifiably so – but then so are we", the central defender said. "We battled hard, as you saw, but our forward play was too sloppy. A lot of our passes went astray." The Royal Blues spent 85 minutes trying to restore parity after the home side had taken an early lead, but it was to be in vain. And it was a very annoying goal to concede, as Höwedes readily admitted. "You have to react better to a long ball over 60 metres", he said. "The entire defence looked bad there."
Höwedes was also in the focus at the other end when he went down in the box after having his shirt tugged following an 80th minute corner. "Tobias Levels held me back", he explained. "You can give a penalty for that." Being denied a spot kick was not the reason for the defeat, however. "We aren't a top side yet and you saw why today", Höwedes continued. "We lacked that extra bit of determination".
Schalke remain in third place despite the defeat. Höwedes said: "The season has gone well so far and we want to stay up there. But we're going to have to improve against Hertha and start playing better balls forward again."
