FC St. Pauli

…lessons from the start to the season: "The naked truth is that we have no points after two matches. We shouldn't lose sight of the positives, though. We created chances in both games and gave very little away. We can't sugarcoat everything, of course, and we have to do better at set plays. We conceded twice from opposition set pieces, which shouldn't be happening in this league, and we have to pose a greater threat in the final third. We played some decent football against Union and repeatedly made it out of the first third to the next level, but we lacked precision in the final third and our understanding was off on a couple of occasions as well. In both games we had more possession than we and many others thought we would have, but we have to be honest that possession doesn't score goals. Nevertheless, it does show that we can hold our own and dominate games in certain phases, as we did against Heidenheim. We've arrived in the Bundesliga in footballing terms, just not in points terms."

...the tactical system much discussed in the media: "It's not a question of the system. We have to start by getting tidier. There's always something lacking, be it precision or coordination. If you aren't precise in your play, you won't build up pressure and create chances, no matter what system you employ. At the moment that's much more important than the question of the system."

Hauke Wahl in conversation with head coach Alexander Blessin

...the situation facing wingers Elias Saad and Oladapo Afolayan: "As the coach already said a couple of days ago, neither of them are bench players. They're quality players who are capable of coming up with footballing solutions and opening up situations, especially in one on ones, as they showed in both games. They both added fresh impetus, in particular against Union. Being able to bring on players of their calibre is a luxury. There's sure to be games and opponents where both of them will start."

...the lack of attacking drive despite lots of possession: "Union sat deep in their own half instead of pressing high. Creating chances against a block like that is always hard. We didn't make any mistakes in possession, which is really important against teams who defend deep and look to come at you on the break. We gave them no opportunity to do that. We didn't have any big chances in the first 20 minutes, but we kept escaping their press and stopping their counterattacks. Early on that was more important than creating four or five chances of our own."

...the Augsburg game and pressure to pick up points: "We're putting ourselves under the pressure of wanting to win the game, which we did in the last two games as well. It's not nice to have no points, but I've been in the situation of starting a season with no points or goals and nine conceded. We managed to avoid relegation in the end, though. The way you start the season is important and it'd be good to pick up points soon so we aren't left with ground to make up, but we're only going into our third game, so I don't think it's appropriate to be talking about big pressure at this stage."

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters