Gustaf Nilsson “Happy with my goal”
A 1-0 for Club against OHL and that sole goal was just about all the excitement the crowd would take from this game. “Grabbing those three points here today was what mattered most”, Gustaf Nilsson started out. “I know this hasn't been our best performance, and it was definitely not our plan to go and combine at so low a pace, but as I said, the three points were on our minds today. Of course it can get tight by the end of the game with that slender one goal margin. And I will definitely not be saying that the many different players getting their chance today are to blame for this game, but as a player you also feel when it's not one of those days. On the other hand I'm happy with my goal. Maxim De Cuyper managed to produce that cross just before it went over, and I was able to deviate it in goal with that header. Of course we are happy with how things are going, and we can now look forward to next Wednesday's home encounter with Atalanta.”
Maxim De Cuyper: “Knew this was going to be a tough game”
Starting from his favoured left wing, Maxim De Cuyper was called to the bench with twenty minutes on the clock. He also agreed to the proposition that this hasn't been one of the better performances for Club.
“We knew that this was going to be a tough game. We wanted those three points, and sometimes the way you go about this is a bit more rough than expected in general, but at the end of the season no one will be thinking about that. Some fans might think that next Wednesday's game was running through our minds, but that was not the case with me. I tried playing my game as I always do, and was definitely not thinking about Atalanta. I can't talk for the other players, of course. It is a fact that the strain of all those consecutive games is tangible, and that's only normal, I think. At half time, we were urged to refrain from attacking through the centre and to try and use the wings a bit more, but that also didn't pan out the way it should today. When Leuven was down to ten after that Verlinden red card, it made things easier on us in defense, but much more difficult to get through their defense. And with that 1-0, the Kortrijk scenario (when Kortrijk kept Club at 1-1, edit), but fortunately for us that didn't happen, and we grabbed the three points. As of tomorrow, our full focus will be given to the game on Wednesday, when we hope we can get another good CL result, this time against Charles De Ketelaere's Atalanta."
Nicky Hayen: “Kept it tight for too long”
A slender 1-0 win for Club against OHL. Club's coach was not exactly jumping for joy afterwards. “There's not much to be said about the way we played today. Much too slow. We get the three points, but our pace just wasn't high enough. We created too few chances, but we kept a clean sheet, and that's vital given the flurry of games we have right now.” His team might seem to have played with the hand brake on, but Nicky Hayen stressed that this was not the intention. “We kept it tight for way too long, until the very end of the game. That was definitely not part of our game plan.”
Club Brugge is indeed stringing along the important games, and more games are to come. How will the coach provide a cushion for all of this? “We just played a tough game at Genk. That is why we didn't select Jashari nor Talbi. Today, we also played with some guys that haven't got the rhythm of our Starting XI.” One of those players with many playing minutes is Christos Tzolis. When asked why he was not offered some respite, Hayen was clear. “You can try and offer some rest to as many players as you can, but I just couldn't take off two wingers today. Talbi has been given so much lately when it comes to high intensity sprints. We always try to give our players some rest, but it's not easy.”
Club's recent request to the calendar department to postpone the STVV game was declined. The schedule in Belgian top football is a rigid one. “I'm not one to talk about that. We try to prepare as best we can. We accept the Pro League's choice not to postpone the game, and will be gearing up for the games to come.”
Chris Coleman, visiting coach today, thought little of that red card so early on in the second half. “Red or not, it will always be food for discussion. There have been so many situations in which a player goes over the ball and stands on someone's ankle. I can easily refer to games in which we also got that sending off. As long as there's no clear line to be followed, there will always be room for discussion.”