HSV is on the verge of failure again. After the one-sided 0: 3 in Stuttgart, there is not much to be said for the Bundesliga return. The second division is but combative – and has a hope.
Even the permanent optimist Tim Walter had no other answer ready at this moment of the next relegation low blow.
When he was asked what still made him positive after the 0: 3 lesson at his former club VfB Stuttgart, the Hamburger SV coach simply said: “The Volkspark.”
Bundesliga will probably remain a place of longing
Little speaks for his team after the first half of the relegation. That’s why the HSV leader relies on outside help: on the fans. His words at the press conference involuntarily made that clear again. The poor performance of his players was too sobering to give hope. Even after five years in the second division, the top floor of German football will probably continue to be a place of longing for Hamburg.
Without a football miracle, another failure on Monday (8.45 p.m. / Sat.1 and Sky) will be a certainty. “We have to stretch ourselves that we might make the impossible possible on Monday. We’re definitely not giving up,” said Walter. He adjusted his microphone several times, he spoke of a “used day”.
“What should happen to us?”
The Hamburgers cling to the special atmosphere in the sold-out Volksparkstadion, the force of the 57,000 spectators and the fact that there are two chances. What is hope now? “That there is still a second leg,” said HSV captain Sebastian Schonlau. “It can’t get any worse. What should happen to us?” said the defense chief. “It can only go up from now on. You can also draw strength from that. We play at home. The fans will push us forward.”
Despite everything, the HSV players made an effort to spread optimism. But their voices didn’t sound as combative as the sentences should have come across. For example with Daniel Heuer Fernandes. “We have to keep believing in ourselves. Anyone who knows us knows that we’ve dealt with setbacks,” said the goalkeeper, who had avoided a major defeat.
Convincing VfB appearance
However, the performance of VfB Stuttgart was more convincing than seldom this season. The Swabians showed more offensive power, more speed, more quality. From the start they demonstrated that they wanted to stay in the first division at the end of a season with a lot of frustration.
This resulted in a quick 1-0 from Konstantinos Mavropanos (1st) and after the break in goals from former HSV professional Josha Vagnoman (51st) and Serhou Guirassy (54th). Not only VfB sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth recognized a “league difference”.
HSV may still have hope that VfB itself has been good for negative experiences in recent months and, given its usury of chances, missed a brighter starting position. However, the guest appearance in the south-west once again revealed Hamburg’s defensive weaknesses, which were also a reason for the missed direct promotion.
Again, the Bundesliga seems to prevail
“Second League, Hamburg is in” chants could be heard as the HSV professionals sneaked into the catacombs via the Stuttgart stadium construction site.
Once again appears in the playoffs of the Premier League-16. enforce. The statistics spoke even more against HSV after the 0: 3 than already. In the six of 24 duels in which promotion was achieved, neither club had lost the first leg.
“Definitely” it was also due to the individual quality, Walter admitted and criticized his defense, especially when he conceded two goals after corner kicks. “I just don’t have the consistency,” the 47-year-old complained: “As a team, we didn’t act the way I imagined. We can only win games if we’re 100 percent there.”
Walter: “Trust my team one hundred percent”
For Walter, the return to Stuttgart, where he had failed as a coach in 2019 after just six months, ended with the next serious setback. The coach and sports director Jonas Boldt had spoken offensively that after missing promotion in the 2022 relegation against Hertha BSC it was time for the Bundesliga return.
Now all he had left was defiance. “I trust my team one hundred percent. If we score a quick goal at home with our spectators and come in well, then that will be topped,” said the coach at Sky. He swore his eleven to that. “I told them we could do anything,” he said in his typical way: “Only losers fall, winners get up.” His captain Schonlau said: “If he says so, then we believe it.”