Eirik Horneland: "Too Slow in Every Aspect of the Game"

A Logical loss

It was a tough match that we started well, with a big chance right from the beginning. After that, the game became too open, and we struggled to create connections between our players. When you face a team as strong as Strasbourg, you have to take control of the match yourself. In the end, they were better than us both physically and technically, and they deserved the win.  

As a team, we didn’t play effectively — we weren’t mentally or physically present, whether in possession or without the ball. We were too slow, too often. Individually, the players weren’t at their best. There was also too much space between them; our lines were too stretched. We couldn’t find the connection. We simply weren’t ready today.

The Derby should have brought a Positive Impact

Normally, we have five training sessions, but this week we could only train three times following an emotionally intense match against Lyon. That Derby took a lot of energy out of us, and maybe we struggled to get going again. But I don’t want to make excuses.  

We need to find the right mental balance, because winning the Derby should give us an energy boost. Instead, we were slow in every aspect of the game. And I’m not talking about running or physical effort, but about how we managed the game and made decisions.