Hamburger SV: Their big 2. Bundesliga preview
The blue side of Hamburg once again has to go through another season of 2. Bundesliga football. Is this season different?
Key information
Manager: Tim Walter
Stadium: Volksparkstadion
Founded: 29 September 1887; 133 years ago (as SC Germania), 2 June 1919; 102 years ago (as Hamburger SV)
Nicknames: Die Rothosen (The Red Shorts), Der Dino (The Dinosaur)
Pre-season
Pre-season start: June 18th
Training camp: June 29th to July 7th in Grassau
Friendlies: June 30: Wacker Innsbruck 1-0 , July 7: FC Augsburg 2-2 , July 12: Silkeborg IF 1-0 , July 17: FC Basel 1-0
HSV had more than a week in Grassau, Bavaria and focused more on training than friendlies. Although, HSV were still very solid in the 'Testspiel' games, going unbeaten and beating Swiss Super League runners up FC Basel 1-0.
Summer signings and departures
Additions: Mikkel Kaufmann (loan, FC Copenhagen), Ludovit Reis (FC Barcelona), Robert Glatzel (Cardiff City), Miro Muheim (FC St. Gallen, loan), Jonas Meffert (Holstein Kiel), Sebastian Schonlau (SC Paderborn), Xavier Amaechi (Karlsruher SC, loan ends), David Bates (Cercle Brugge, loan ends), Aaron Opoku (SSV Jahn Regensburg, loan ends)
Departures: Khaled Narey (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Xavier Amaechi (Bolton Wanderers, loan), Rick van Drongelen (1. FC Union Berlin), Gideon Jung (contract termination), Sven Ulreich (FC Bayern Munich), Aaron Hunt (contract end), Simon Terodde (FC Schalke 04)
The loss of Simon Terodde to Schalke 04 can't be underestimated and HSV needed to replace him. Did they? Danish prospect Mikkel Kaufmann arrives on loan from Copenhagen. He made the headlines in Denmark with 16 goals in 17 games for Aalborg's youth team, but he has struggled to make an impact since joining the Danish capital club in 2019.
Robert Glatzel is the other replacement for Terodde. The former Cardiff City striker spent the second half of last season with Mainz - scoring 2 goals and was a nice addition for coach Bo Svensson. His previous 2. Bundesliga experience was with Kaiserslautern and Heidenheim and he scored 13 goals in 16 games in 2018/19.
First six matches
Matchday 1 - vs Schalke 04 (H), Friday 24th July, 20:30 local
Matchday 2 - vs Dynamo Dresden (A), Sunday 1st August, 13:30 local
Matchday 3 - vs St. Pauli (H), Friday 13th August, 18:30 local
Matchday 4 - vs Darmstadt 98 (A), Sunday 22nd August, 13:30 local
Matchay 5 - vs Heidenheim (H), Saturday 28th August, 13:30 local
Matchday 6 - vs SV Sandhausen (A), Saturday 11th October, 13:30 local
Key player
As I've already mentioned in the article above. Wherever Simon Terodde goes, the team usually does quite well (unless you're HSV.) He scores for fun, even at 33 years old and defenders are scared of him. If Schalke players get the ball to him in and around the box, he'll score more than he misses. A huge signing and will bag a lot of goals in Gelsenkirchen.
Possible tactics
I've hardly mentioned new coach Tim Walter in this article so far and I really should've. His style is different to many and as a Paderborn fan he was my first choice for the Steffen Baumgart replacement. He's found his way to Hamburg and they will be fun to watch, very fun to watch.
His preferred formation is 4-3-1-2. Walter’s playing philosophy is built around possession of the ball, and how the movement off it can move the opposition and ultimately create goal-scoring chances for his side. As a result, his sides tend to be very well coached in possession, meaning teams against Walter almost always set up in a compact deep block, seeking to reduce the effects of Walter’s side’s positional play.
The writer's opinion
HSV will obviously be missing key-man Simon Terodde but they won't be having goal shortages with Walter as coach. They'll be entertaining, free-flowing and winning games. I do think they'll have enough but only for the play-off games.
Writer's prediction: 3rd