Condition is “alarming”
At HSV the tree is burning before Christmas
December 10, 2023, 2:08 p.m
Tim Walter is parodied on the Internet, but in real life the Hamburger SV coach has to put up with the question of whether he is still the right one. Because: The eternal hopes of promotion are in danger of remaining unfulfilled for the sixth time. The response to the defeat against Paderborn is intense.
Tim Walter was angry. “We keep depriving ourselves of the reward for our work. It’s difficult to put into words,” said the Hamburger SV coach after a game to forget. In the end it was 1:2 (1:1) against SC Paderborn, after the first home defeat of the season the mood around the Volkspark became cloudy. “Is HSV coach Walter the wrong person for promotion?” asks the “Bild” newspaper. And the “Hamburger Abendblatt” wants to know: “Will Walter get the turn again?” After all, we should finally be able to return to the Bundesliga at the sixth attempt.
And while HSV is weakening, the competition is putting pressure on – but Walter continues to be combative and self-confident. “We’ve been down so many times, but we’re getting up again this time,” said the 48-year-old: “We’ll keep going.” And: “I know what my team is capable of.”
Walter always comments something like this after setbacks – and that’s why a funny parody picture of the HSV coach is all the rage on the Internet. Walter can be seen as an old man with long white hair and a white beard, and underneath it says: “We have good morale in the troops and our goal is promotion.” Now the squad, which is actually overqualified for the 2nd league, is about to fall out of the promotion zone.
“Problems exposed ruthlessly”
There is currently only one other Hamburg club heading towards the Bundesliga. As league leaders, FC St. Pauli is already four points ahead of their city rivals – and HSV was lucky that the Kiezkicker only played 1-1 (1-0) at VfL Osnabrück have. In addition, Hertha BSC is gaining more and more momentum; after a dismal start to the season, the capital club is now only four points behind HSV. “We are very tired, but it was a perfect week for Hertha BSC,” said coach Pal Dardai, who knocked HSV out of the DFB Cup on Wednesday and beat 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the league (2-1).
At HSV, however, the trend is pointing downwards after only four points from the last four games. The loss of the home nimbus has “finally and mercilessly exposed the problems,” wrote the NDR in an analysis. “Despite all the protestations to the contrary, the team has no unity, no common concept whatsoever.” The condition of HSV is “alarming”. There were only four wins in the last eleven league games. Even the narrow 2-1 win against relegation candidate Eintracht Braunschweig was hard-fought. The two defeats against the newcomers from Elversberg and Osnabrück were the first warning signs in September.
Until the end of the year next Saturday at 1. FC Nürnberg (1 p.m./Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) Walter now wants to train a lot and “talk to each other a lot,” he said and believes: “If the boys are a little more self-confident and take on more responsibility, then we are on the right track.” Otherwise the mood in Hamburg could not only deteriorate, but also change.