Storm goalie Siebenhandl: “Salzburg can think about it” – football
“Those were big points today. The win means something to us, it’s not that easy to win here,” said Christian Ilzer.
With the 3-0 away win at Wiener Austria (match report >>>), SK Sturm is still unbeaten in the Bundesliga and has reduced the gap to leaders Red Bull Salzburg to two points with their third win in a row.
It is logical that the runners-up are asked about the table situation after ten rounds. “You can think about it, it won’t do you any harm,” says goalie Jörg Siebenhandl with a wink towards Salzburg.
“I’m not saying it…”
Coach Ilzer is defensive: “I don’t say where I like to see myself, because then it will be misinterpreted again.”
The Styrian also digresses a bit: “If you don’t want to see yourself at the top, you’re out of place anyway. But we have a team in Austria that plays in other spheres. Our big goal is to reduce the gap from last year.”
“However, the focus is not always on results, my focus is also on our further development in all phases. We have to keep at it at the moment of success. Often one becomes careless when it comes to success. The others don’t sleep,” says Ilzer.
He wants to take it step by step in a classic way: “The first finish line is the top 6, then we want to be in a great position after the points have been halved and get the maximum out of it.”
In any case, the people of Graz got the maximum out of this Sunday evening in Vienna favorites. Because the matter was not as clear as the bare result would suggest.
After SK Sturm’s opening goal, Austria turned up the heat and presented their guests with great challenges. “It was a key in the game that we got through this phase without conceding a goal. We needed an outstanding Jörg Siebenhandl for that,” says Ilzer in view of the three seaters who left the violets within a few minutes.
“They make Austria incredibly strong”
His explanation: “We were too reserved in certain phases, didn’t push our lines well, we were too cautious and felt the great quality of Austria. We missed connecting with the opposition. Austria found its rhythm and put enormous pressure on it made us a bit unsettled. Austria were incredibly strong there.”
These few minutes were also a warning for Siebenhandl: “If you look at the first half, things can go wrong in the league. We know that we have to stay at 100 percent and not fall behind.”
In the second half, the Grazers then presented themselves consolidated and brought in a deserved victory. Ilzer is satisfied: “In the second half we adapted a bit, we managed better to keep the space narrower, we were always close, we didn’t let Austria get between the lines that well.”
The trainer’s summary of this success is of course correspondingly positive: “It was an incredibly mature performance in a very difficult game against a very strong opponent. If you then win that 3-0, you can say that the team solved it very maturely and with quality.”