VfL Bochum remain bottom of the table after losing 4-1 at VfB Stuttgart. This is how sporting director Patrick Fabian looks at the defeat.

VfL Bochum have only collected a paltry four points in this Bundesliga season. The team at the bottom of the table has not won a single one away from home. The fifth attempt at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday also ended in vain. The final score was 1:4.

But the result was a little deceptive. For the Revierklub did not let itself be shot down and was at times an equal opponent. Nevertheless, it was a clear result in the end, which did not make it any easier for those responsible.

“It’s very frustrating to go home with this result in our luggage and to have missed the chance to leave the direct relegation places,” annoyed sports manager Patrick Fabian. “I think we could have done better. But for that we have to stop the individual mistakes. Football is about scoring goals and preventing goals. We didn’t manage to do that today. Even the good phases don’t help us there.”

The match got off to an unfortunate start from Bochum’s point of view. Not even three minutes had passed before Stuttgart were awarded a penalty. Silas converted – and Fabian complained: “Unfortunately, we helped the opponent to get into the game very well.

The 0:2 followed, but VfL fought their way back, Simon Zoller scored to tie it up. And in the first 20 minutes or so of the second half, coach Thomas Letsch’s team sniffed at an equaliser. “We had good control in many phases of the game. We were gripping, especially in the second half we were on the verge of an equaliser,” Fabian summed up.

But Gerrit Holtmann missed a great chance to make it 2:2 – and on the other side Stuttgart punished Bochum’s negligence with the 1:3. “That was a kind of break in the neck for us.”

After all, the game plan does not allow for much agonising. Already on Tuesday, VfL will play again in the south of Germany, then it will go to SV Elversberg on the occasion of the second round of the DFB Cup. “We are very angry and frustrated today. But from tomorrow, the focus must be on Elversberg,” demanded the 35-year-old Fabian. As sports director, he knows that getting into the next round is important for the club, especially financially. “We definitely want to advance one round and we have to get our heads back on straight. “