Simon Mignolet: "It really wasn't our afternoon"
"The first 40 minutes we play top, but we were not efficient enough. If you make that 1-0 quickly, then it becomes a completely different afternoon. To still come back from 0-3 is very difficult, we did everything we could, but they obviously tried to take the pace out of the match. It really wasn't our afternoon."
Gustaf Nilsson: "This is a very frustrating result"
"You can maybe say that Gent didn't deserve to win, but actually we only have ourselves to thank for losing today," were the first words of Club's Swedish striker. I think we started very well, got plenty of chances, but unfortunately to our own frustration we couldn't get the ball against the nets. Gent on the other hand poked against twice in the first half, but it was 0-2 after forty-five minutes. Obviously it comes down to efficiency again, and Gent certainly taught us a lesson in that today. Everyone was seriously frustrated when we came into the locker room and especially since we played far from a bad game. Putting everything on our defenders doesn't make sense either, because before the visitors scored their first goal, we should have scored at least twice as well and then we were in complete control of that match. No, this 2-4 defeat is a very frustrating result for us." (FDC)
Hans Vanaken: "Not efficient enough"
Just like against Dortmund, Club Brugge suffered a totally undeserved defeat in the 'Battle of Flanders'. This hit Hans Vanaken pretty hard : "This is of course another big disappointment because if there was one team that deserved to win today, it was Club. But just like last Wednesday, we forgot to score and once again we got the lid on the nose," said the Bruges captain in a first reaction. "I thought our first half was particularly strong and already on the half hour the game could have been played. Gent did not come into the game at all but out of nowhere they suddenly score 0-2. Of course we were unlucky again with that second goal but I don't want to take that as an excuse. Today we were again not efficient enough in both goal areas. Even after the 0-3 we kept trying to put high pressure and find openings but Gent did everything possible to take the pace out of the match. The little mistakes and the times they went to the ground were uncountable."
Asked if Club has now also been given a tick mentally, the Limburger replied wittily : "I won't deny that it's not nice to go down twice with such figures, it's rather annoying. But I'm trying to pick myself up from the attacking play we put on the turf. Because you know that with positive soccer you will always be rewarded in the long run." (MV)
Simon Mignolet: "Unjustified defeat"
Like Hans Vanaken, Simon Mignolet, the other Limburger in Bruges' payroll, also addressed the assembled press : "Well, what can I say here? It was apparently not our afternoon, because once again our good performance did not translate into points. This defeat is again unjustified. We played our first forty minutes really well but again we were not efficient enough. If you get a quick lead, you get a totally different match. Immediately after the break, you get that third goal very quickly and it's very difficult to make up for a 0-3 deficit. Nevertheless, we did everything we could but the Buffaloes did everything they could to take the tempo out of the match, unfortunately it was not to be." (MV)
Nicky Hayen: "No scoring problem, but matter to strike at right moments."
Blue-Black dominated the "Battle of Flanders," but they lacked efficiency and thus lost 2-4. Coach Hayen was obviously disappointed after the game.
"I think we just came out of the locker room very well at the start of the match," the Bruges coach began his analysis. "We were dominant right away, created a lot of chances and should actually be ahead. We defended well and put good pressing, but still you are 0-2 behind at halftime. Then you try to make some adjustments during the break and go out with positive energy, but then it immediately becomes 0-3. Then you are faced with a quasi-impossible task, but we do score directly against. Still, I never had the feeling that we could still come back completely and especially not when it became 1-4 pretty quickly. Then you know it's just going to be very difficult, but we still tried to make up ground. That eventually resulted in the 2-4, but after that you see that they did defend well and played out the game maturely. Then 2-4 is unfortunately the tough verdict."
In one week, Club played two strong games, but did lose each time. "That's true and we have to make a clear analysis of that, both of the last quarter Wednesday and the moments where we swallowed goals today. We played a very good first half today and a lesser second. In that you also saw that some guys are going to do different things and we have to take that out. It's a good question why that happens and I don't have an answer to that right now. Maybe it concerns some frustration due to a lack of efficiency, but we have to deal with that more handily and smarter."
Immediately after Nilsson poked the 2-4 against the nets, the striker was substituted. "Nilsson was ready to be substituted before his goal. In the end you then make the decision to make the substitution anyway, but in hindsight you may have to admit that it was the wrong choice. Of course, that's always easy talk in hindsight. "Club thus experienced a lack of efficiency both Wednesday and this afternoon. "However, we continue to train in the same way on that aspect, because you also have to have some luck now and then. I don't think we have a scoring problem, because the past games (for example, against Cercle), we also just score goals. It mainly comes down to striking at the right moments," concludes the Blauw-Zwart coach.