Tim Walter took on each individual again separately. The Hamburger SV coach walked through the circle formed by his team, pinching the players’ cheeks, hugging them, shouting a few words in their ears. And indeed, Walter had to scream, very loudly, because the people on the north stand made a ruckus, which certainly made the church bells of the Hamburger Michel in the center of the Hanseatic city tremble.
It went on like this for a little eternity, the HSV fans didn’t want to stop singing, but maybe they couldn’t do anything else. After all, they had just witnessed something like a resurrection, at least a small one: Your club, which had already been written off by many this season, sometimes by its own staff – it is back in the middle with a 2-1 home win against Hannover 96 ascension business. “We also want to win the next game,” said Walter, “and thus take the next step into the other league.” The calculation now sounds very simple: A win on the last day of the game at Hansa Rostock, and the Hamburg team could no longer be pushed out of relegation place three due to the significantly better goal difference. (Here is the second division table)
Former HSV coach Daniel Thioune did valuable preparatory work
A result from Friday was also necessary for this starting position, because in this crazy second division it is like with supply chains, every club is somehow dependent on other clubs – and the preparatory work was done by an old acquaintance of all people: the coach Daniel Thioune, in the previous season HSV failed in the promotion project, won with Fortuna Düsseldorf against Darmstadt 98 – and thus gave his former club the opportunity to advance to this promising table position in the first place.
A special atmosphere could be felt throughout the morning in the Hanseatic city, on every street corner you could see people with the rhombus on their chest, on their forehead or as a removable tattoo on their cheek. This crackling was then transmitted to the stadium, it piled up to the roof. So much so that the Walter-Elf seemed a little inhibited at the beginning of the game by the crowd, possibly also by the great opportunity that was inherent in this game.
The Walter team showed all their sides against Hannover – the good and the bad
But the Hamburgers got into the game better and better, their heads became more alert, their bodies more resistant, their feet more precise. Playmaker Sonny Kittel had a good chance, then defender Sebastian Schonlau shot wide after a corner, free-standing and from the best position. That suited the season at HSV, which was trained by coach Walter to play smart and fast-paced possession football, but ended up suffering from a disastrous agitation. It is therefore often a matter of whether something countable can be generated from dominance, and it is at least precisely important that the gaps at the back do not become too large.
The 20th minute stood for the entire HSV season, it also stood as an example for the risks and side effects of Walter football. A small error in the game structure here, a small mistake in position there – and the 96 striker Hendrik Weydandt ran alone towards the Hamburg goal. But Weydandt failed in the end to HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes, an excellent footballer with an even better view of the situation. Heuer Fernandes made the game fast, the ball made it to attacker Bakery Jatta in a few seconds, Jatta crossed low into the penalty area, where, of course, striker Robert Glatzel pushed the ball over the line with his right. 1:0 And the Volkspark vibrated.
Glatzel is in remarkable shape, a lot depends on his daily form at HSV. In the game against Hannover he got the balls in every position, he ran into the rooms, he sometimes gave way to the flanks. But at the right moment he was back in the dangerous zones. As in the 23rd minute, again it was a quick move, again Jatta crossed to Glatzel. The only difference was that this time the striker chested the ball over the line. 2-0 – and Glatzel’s 22nd goal of the season, 13 of them in the last 16 games alone.
“We’ll take this energy with us into the coming week,” announced HSV captain Schonlau
After that, said Walter, the team became “a bit sleepy”. The result, just a little later: the goal from 96 playmaker Sebastian Kerk, with an art shot in the long bend (23rd). In the first half, the Heimelf should not recover from this, they now seemed jittery, nervous and sometimes over-motivated.
It wasn’t the case that HSV confidently defended their lead to the finish, because the team changed faces for the rest of the game, as the weather usually changes in Hamburg. Sometimes the Walter-Elf seemed stable, shortly afterwards feverish, then suddenly order returned. It was an unidentifiable mixture. Jatta missed a huge chance to make it 3-1, as did substitute Faride Alidou. However, and that was the difference to the past few years, in which the Hamburgers threw themselves out of the promotion race with inexplicable mistakes: they withstood the pressure, the expectations, especially the attacks of the surprisingly enthusiastic opponent.
“We’ll take this energy with us into the coming week,” announced HSV captain Schonlau. Then the opponent is Hansa Rostock, eleventh place in the table, no relegation worries. HSV now has something to lose for the first time this season. So he’s playing against himself again.