Pokal Preview: Freiburg and Hamburger SV set sights on Berlin
A sold out crowd of 57,000 at the Hamburger SV's Volksparkstadion will be on hand for what promises to be a rollicking DFB Pokal semi-final fixture on Tuesday evening in the Hanseatic City-State.
We're pleased to get everyone up to speed for this cracker with the latest on player news, team form, and the comments from the coaches at the Monday pressers.
We're pleased to get everyone up to speed for this cracker with the latest on player news, team form, and the comments from the coaches at the Monday pressers.
Freiburg roll into town the clear favorites to reach their first ever Final since the completion's inception. Anything remains possible, however, in a one-off set of 90 minutes on the football pitch. Three time cup winners Hamburg hope to seize a ray-of-light amid their club's darkest era.
Hamburger SV
The promotion dream for the proud Hanseatic club isn't technically over in an arithmetical sense this year. And yet, as the HSV sit in 6th place on 48 points in the 2. Bundesliga with four matches remaining, it begins to look as if Hamburg's larger club may fail in its mission to get back into the top-flight for the fourth consecutive season.
The club referred to as "the Dinosaur"--so nicknamed because it was (until 2018) the only remaining original Bundesliga club never to be relegated--has not managed better than a string of three straight fourth placed finishes in the second division. This constitutes a significant humiliation for an organization so large, particularly in light of how quickly other big clubs such as Stuttgart and Köln (and now Schalke and Bremen) have been able to bounce back.
For the HSV, stability remains an issue. Six trainers have cycled through in the past four campaigns. In the dark years prior to relegation (2011-2018), 13 separate head-coaches helmed the team. In all that time, Tuesday's opponents SC Freiburg have had just one gaffer: Christian Streich.
Eleven years. Nineteen trainers for the HSV. One for Freiburg.
There can be no question that Champions' League contenders Freiburg have built the sort of identity that the much larger club wishes it presently had for itself. Current HSV trainer Tim Walter acknowledged as much at his Monday presser.
"The Sport-Club [Freiburg] stands for stability and continuity," Walter noted when discussing his opponent, "It shows how that can pay off. They've shaped an Era in Breisgau. It would be nice if we could shape an Era here."
There former Kiel and Stuttgart trainer noted "a positive feeling in the city and around the club" heading into Tuesday's fixture. Walter expressed the hope that the fans could help lift the underdogs past the favored Breisgauer and help the club reach its first cup final since winning its third trophy 35 years ago.
Team Form
The HSV ride a 3-0 weekend victory over Karlsruhe into the Pokal matchup. Walter's men also beat the KSC in the Pokal quarterfinal round. Overall league form has unfortunately been spotty since then. "Der Dino"'s only other league win in the last six rounds came against lowly Erzgebirge Aue. They've dropped matches against closer table rivals Nürnberg Paderborn, and Kiel while managing only a draw against Düsseldorf.
As recently as late February, the Hanseaten were contending for promotion in second place. The late season flounders seem to be affecting the squad, with star midfielder Sony Kittel struck in a prolonged form dip. Future Eintracht Frankfurt attacker Faride Alidou and highly successful summer striker signing Robert Glatzel enter the match with some wind in their sails.
Team News
Kittel is expected to return to the XI after some knee problems kept him out of the lineup over the weekend. Attacking midfielder Ludovit Reis is also available after serving out a suspension on Saturday. Kittel may start out on the wings so that Finnish midfielder Anssi Suhonen can still operate from the six-slot.
Walter was most enthusiast about the Finn's recent performance against Karlsruhe, raving that the 21-year-old "presses with great energy". The HSV gaffer can draw from his full complement of players on Tuesday, with no one apart from the long-term injured Maximilian Rohr, Tim Liebold, and Elijah Krahn ruled out.
SC Freiburg
As undeniably "cult" as the Christian Streich Freiburg regime is in the mind of German football lovers, accolades and accomplishments remain few. Streich led the team to the 2. Bundesliga title in the 2015/16 campaign one year after suffering relegation. A 2013/14 Europa League appearance ended in the group stage. Streich's men fell short of the 2017/18 Europa League in the third qualifying round.
The current Bundesliga season reminds many of Freiburg's 2012/13 campaign. Streich came so very near to helping qualify for the Champions' League, only to cede fourth place to Schalke on the final matchday of the season. Streich also helped Freiburg reach the DFB Pokal semi-finals that year, where they lost to BaWü rivals VfB Stuttgart.
There's thus a chance at double redemption for the man many consider to be the spiritual successor of Volker Finke. An inconsistent season saw Freiburg drop off after an excellent start that left some speculating that they could be contenders. Leipzig's resurgence puts serious pressure on Freiburg's already quixotic hopes of UCL qualification, meaning that this counts as Streich's best chance of attaining glory for the club this year.
Team Form
For the past two week's, Streich has been utilizing a 4-4-1-1 formation with a surprising amount of offensive pop. Two consecutive league victories have come from this constellation. This past weekend's thorough demolition of VfL Bochum saw the SCF gaffer's two personnel changes within the same shape (Nils Petersen and Woo-Yeong Jeong) turn in marvelous performances.
Streich gushed over the form of Jeong at his Monday presser. The South Korean attacker has played a bit of a fickle season and did experience some complications regaining his fitness after a COVID infection. In any event, Jeong's coach proclaimed that the supplier of two assists was "back up to full strength" and "playing outstanding".
Winger Roland Sallai is also on the uptick. The Hungarian international scored a brace in the Bochum win. He also recorded an assist in the 2-1 win over Frankfurt in the previous round. Streich mused about the 24-year-old a bit at his Monday presser, saying that he felt Sallai had worked through his "high expectations for himself" and was settling into confidence and physically robust play.
Team News
Young striker Kevin Schade remains out with a stomach muscle tear. That absence does give Streich one less option in attack. The trainer he does retain many options (Ermedin Demirovic, Lucas Höler, Nils Petersen, and even Jeong or Sallai themselves) to work the top axis.
Jonathan Schmid, used sparingly recently after an uneven recovery from long COVID, can always pop up on the right wing.
Freiburg's tactics have been quite varied this season, with Streich never afraid to try out something novel against an opponent he and his staff have studied for particular weakness.
A repeat of the 4-4-1-1 appears unlikely.
One assumes a special opponent-specific package has been prepared.