Hamburger SV

Int. Week/Henry incident

g? — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:34:43 +0000

“Not the victory but the action; Not the goal but the game; In the deed the glory.”

Those words are written in Memorial Stadium, Lincoln Nebraska.
Maybe if he does come to MLS, he’ll have time to stop by and think about it. I wouldn’t want a part of a trophy earned thanks to cheating, PERIOD. I hate it when the Rothosen do it, and I hate it when the other teams do. When Mahdavikia dove against Dortmund back in 07, I was ashamed that our turnaround started with such a despicable move. Still am. It feels less incredible, knowing that we may never have made the UI cup if he hadn’t done that. So please, don’t comment about double standards. (Or Spam, for that matter…)

Now, on to more current HSV news,
Collo resigned until 2011. Which is good, as I’ve always liked him.
Zé is still out, but Petric is finally back to training.
And we play Bochum on sunday, which I have decided is a must-win, at least for the Herbstmeisterschaft.
That’s about it.

RIP Robert Enke

g? — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:25:25 +0000

Rest in Peace with Lara.
Honored to have watched our HSV play yours over the last few seasons.

Hamburg-Gladbach Living DEAD blog!

g? — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:05:33 +0000

Since I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use that title, I’ll be giving a vague commentary while I search for a live stream. So it’s technically accurate.

30′ We’re leading 1-0 on a Trochowski strike. That makes us top of the table.

35-39′ Elia and Berg almost score, respectively.

39′ AHH! Equalizer-Gladbach. Though I couldn’t see who it was. Edit-Marco Reus was the one, who got in on a breakaway and lobbed over Rost

HZ- Halftime in the HH. 1-1, thanks to Reus’ equalizer for the fortunate Fohlen.

47′ TORRRRRRRR FÜR HAMBURG!!!! ZÉ on the direct free in the top right corner! What an amazing buy he turned out to be… 2-1 Hamburg lead again, only 2 minutes into the 2nd half.

50′ Boateng looks hurt. Rozehnal is still suspended from last week. We’ll see if he can continue… BAD sign

61′ Good chance for Gladbach-Arango header over the top.

64′ Labbadia continuing to leave Jerome on the field, even as he grimaces in pain. Don’t let another player get a long term injury…

72′ Good shot from Jarolim is stopped by the keeper.

75′ EQUALIZER GLADBACH. This after a clear PK was denied after a tackle on Pitroipa

77′ BOATENG! WTF MAN! ALMOST GAVE AWAY THE GAME! BAAAAD backpass almost killed us there.

79′ We NEED all 3 points today. Esp. with all the ties we’ve had recently.

82′ Friend takes the lead for Gladbach. Oh dear.

My title seems oddly fitting now…

spielaus. First loss in the BL this season. To GLADBACH. That hurts. Especially having seen the missed PK call for us that could’ve made it 3-1.

Damn.

Three points in Glasgow!

g? — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:57:38 +0000

Spirits remain high in the Hamburg locker room, as the decimated Macht v. d. Elbe managed to pull out 3 points from a hard fought game at Celtic Park.
REWIND!
After getting the news that Castelen may be out for his career, which would be horrible news for anyone, and especially for someone who has always seemed to have a positive outlook on his situation, and that Jerome is hurt, one could be forgiven for expecting our Hanseaten to play for the draw, kind of like how Celtic’s bitter rivals made the final a few years ago. But that was not to be the case, as the order of the day was some of the better possession football I’ve seen since we beat Man City. Zé set up Marcus Berg, who slotted it home for the 0-1, which held up thanks to some solid D, and some good (And bad) luck. Celtic plunge to bottom of the table, and HSV are punktgleich with Hapoel on top of group C, after Hapoel hung Rapid Wien out to dry.
Rost saved us more than once, our Dauerbrenner Mathijsen played to his usual standards, Rozehnal didn’t seem to make any glaring errors that I remember, Demel made a few mistakes but held his own. Aogo played a decent game, although I was bothered with his time-wasting late in the game.
Jaro was scrappy and fought for every ball (Surprise, surprise), Zé is still the steal of the year, Jansen was solid in his return from injury, and Elia started weak but got better and better until the end of the game.
Berg played great, and hopefully will carry this scoring touch into the bundesliga finally. Pitroipa is rightfully a HSV Offside fave, as his speed troubled Celtic all night, and set up a number of chances.

All in all, not a bad game from a team thats been decimated by injuries, especially against a desperate Celtic. I’d feel bad, but they’d have to reconsider their friendships first…

Final note: As the team went to thank the 2500 travelling fans, they were blocked by security, and apparently will be reported to UEFA. I call shenanigans to that, and hope that UEFA throws the case out.
Schwarz-weiß-blaue Grüße!

HSV – Celtic Rantbox

Chris — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:31:03 +0000

Again, a tip of the creative cap to the Chelsea Offside’s Jack, who as far as I know, came up with the idea. Match goes at 2005 local time, and 1405 CDT at Hamburg Offside headquarters here in the US Midwest. The match will not be televised in the US, and so I will be following along on a game cast; if anyone has a link to a good video feed please post it.

Europa League – HSV v Celtic preview

Chris — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:12:27 +0000

News and notes ahead of today’s match at Celtic Park . . .

•Jerome Boateng made the trip to Glasgow but will not play–he twisted his knee in training on Tuesday and is aiming to be ready for Sunday’s match versus Schalke. Look for David Rozehnal to start in his place. Kai-Fabian Schulz has been recalled from HSV II to provide depth on the bench.

•Bruno is adamant about staying with his 4-4-2 formation, and is considering starting speedster Jonathon Pitroipa (a Hamburg Offside fave) up front with Berg. I think he stays with Tunay Torun.

•If this blog is a primary source of your HSV news, you probably didn’t see this, but Romeo Castelen injured his left knee, AGAIN. This is the same knee that has been surgically repaired twice in the last 16 months, and now Romeo is worried that his career may be over. He is waiting for the pain and swelling to subside before deciding whether to have the knee operated on again. My hope is that he will be able to play following rest and strengthening, but it does not look good at this point. Too bad, too, Castelen is fast and talented when he is on the pitch, but sadly that hasn’t been the case for nearly a year and a half.

•Bild opines that the only person who can save HSV now is . . . (wait for it) . . . VDV! And really, they make some good points. Rafa is a skilled enough finisher to play up front with, or just behind, Berg; he is already familiar with the team and the Bundesliga; he needs to play regularly to maintain his position on the Dutch national team heading into WC2010; and most importantly, Real have not yet finished paying his transfer fee. The drawback–Berndt Hoffman says the treasury is empty and that we can’t take on his wages. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’d love to have him back. BUT, Mladen Petric *should* be back by January, and Paolo Guerrero *should* be back in February, and really there is a chemistry now with HSV that I don’t want to mess with. I have this uneasy feeling that bringing back Van der Vaart would somehow spoil what looks to be a team of destiny (right now). Who knows? Maybe the wheels will fall off the cart by December and we’ll be counting the days until his triumphant return. . .

•Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but the other name kicked around (pretty often, too) for a possible winter transfer is Martin Petrov of Manchester City.

•Bild (I know, I know) has a lineup posted that might just be crazy enough to work. Something like this if you can’t see the link:

Rost

Demel Rozehnal Mathijsen Aogo

Ze’ Roberto Jarolim

Pitroipa Trochowski Elia

Berg

Me? I think we see something like this:

Rost

Demel Rozehnal Mathijsen Aogo

Trochowski Ze’ Roberto Jarolim Elia

Torun Berg

Thoughts?

Bottom line:

The defense has been playing very well in front of Rost, who was a stone wall versus Leverkusen, especially late in the game. In the match versus Hapoel, Torun and Berg showed some chemistry and worked very well together. Bruno is adamant about keeping width in the midfield and for good reason–it’s worked. Despite the fact that Celtic are a bit off the pace in the SPL, Scottish football in general is getting a bad rap these days, and as a result *only* 40,00o tickets have been sold, Parkhead is never an easy place to play. But we have played in difficult away matches before (the 2007/08 UEFA Cup at The Maksimir in Zagreb versus Dinamo immediately leaps to mind). Celtic are struggling, but not really–the expectations are exceptionally high at Parkhead–and are a challenge to anyone at home. I will be very interested to see the attack now that Berg is The Man from here on out. If he and Torun can recapture the magic they displayed against Hapoel, I think we’ll be fine and take 3 points. But Celtic aren’t Hapoel Tel-Aviv. If the attack doesn’t get going, I think we’re lucky to get a result. My SWAG prediction: 2:1 to the HSV.

Fun while it lasted

Chris — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:07:24 +0000

This stay at the top of the table, yeah, enjoy it while you can. ‘Cause chances are we aren’t hanging around too much longer. . .

Oh my freakin' leg!

News today that in-form striker Mladen Petric is out until the Winter Break following an ankle injury suffered in the Hertha match Sunday. So, no, I am not sorry at all the their shitty 3rd string keeper gave away two goals–we’re going to need all the points we can get with both our starting forwards out. Oh, and Petric is having surgery tomorrow in Basel, Switzerland to repair tendon damage. So if you’re keeping score at home, that’s our top 2 strikers both down with injuries until January and February.

So who’s going to fill in? Likely Tunay Torun, who has been playing quite well as of late, and Tolgay Arslan, who has not yet made an appearance this season. More news as this plays out.

I’m so sorry! Really I am! Hertha 1-3 HSV (Hertha 4-0 HSV???)

g? — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:45:03 +0000

Wow, just wow. Watched from a sportsbar. Has a 3-1 win ever been more undeserved? We played like garbage most of the game, lucked into THREE goals, then wasted time for 50+ minutes until Spielende.

Started off poorly, as Arne scored early off a corner, making peace with the fans since his role in Lulu’s ousting was revealed. We took command a little more afterwards, but without making any real plays happen, Past Jaro, not much was going on. Hertha was sitting back, trying to hit us on the counter, until disaster for the Alte Dame. 24th min, Boateng sent a long ball into the box, Kaka headed it back as the keeper ran out to get it. 1-1, own goal by Hertha. Oops #1. Fourteen minutes later, and Hertha had already been forced to make a keeper substitution due to injury. And it hurt(Oops #2-Puns). Another long ball, and Hertha GK Sascha Burchert, in his second ever BL game, ran out of the 18 yard box to clear with a header straight to Jaro, who sent an ice-cold volley straight into the goal(Oops #3). Almost immediately after the replays ended came another long ball, and another keeper clearance outside of the box. To Zé. Who also scored. In the same fashion. That more or less ended the game, as Hertha’s hearts were already broken once more.
Having watched the 06-07 season, I know what it’s like to be in Hertha’s position, so I’m not going to revel in their suffering, especially since the keeper is a young chap. But the 3 points are nice to have right now, especially with the Spitzenspiel against Neverkusen GmbH. Hopefully we can recharge during the break, and the fans can show Bayer what a real stadium with REAL SUPPORT LOOKS LIKE!
Schwarz-weiß-blaue Grüße!

HSV v. Hapoel Preview

Chris — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:33:41 +0000

News and notes leading up to the Europa League clash with Hapoel Tel Aviv on Thursday. . .

•Paolo Guerrero had surgery in my hometown of Denver (Colorado) this week under the skilled knife of Dr. Richard Steadman (actually, Steadman’s clinic is in the alpine resort town of Vail, but hey, who’s keeping track . . .), and the prognosis for his return to the pitch is about 4 months. That, my friends, puts him back in the starting XI by February. Sweet.

•Ze Roberto continues to rehab a bruised ankle and is, in American football parlance, questionable for tonight’s match. If he doesn’t go, look for a midfield of Trochowski, Aogo, Jarolim, and Elia. Guy Demel left the Bayern match with a bruised ankle, after a deliberate (and uncalled) foul by Frank Ribery in the first half. But our man Guy has made a miraculous recovery and was able to train both Tuesday and Wednesday. Look for him to take the pitch at Right Back.

•Talks with in-form striker Mladen Petric regarding a contract extension have broken down. Rumors to that effect last week led to every scout from every “major” (Read: Rich) club in Europe watching Petric versus Bayern. Petric, for his part, says he is disappointed.

•There will be a familiar face to Bundesliga fans in the starting XI for Tel Aviv tonight: Former 1860 Munich and Köln/Cologne midfielder Nemanja Vucicevic signed with Tel Aviv this summer.

Where'd everybody go?

•Only 27,000 tickets had been sold to tonight’s match as of this morning, meaning there will be a LOT of HSV supporters in attendance dressed like empty seats. Everyone at HSV has pointed to this match as a must win, and are pleading with supporters to buy tickets to the match this evening.

•Great story here about the background of Hapoel Tel Aviv, their relationship to Hamburg’s “other” club, FC St. Pauli, and their rivalry with larger local rival Maccabi Tel Aviv. Some 700 Hapoel supporters are expected to attend tonight, along with 200 of their comrades from St. Pauli’s goons Ultras.

Let’s not beat around the bush. The Bayern win was a rousing as the defeat to Rapid was crushing. We need to win tonight to have any hope of advancing to the group stage. With a trip to Celtic Park looming, we need a full three points and no away goals to Hapoel tonight. Remember, this is the same Hapoel who went into Celtic Park and punked Celtic 1:2 on Matchday 1.

One hacks attempt at a starting XI:

Rost

Demel Boateng Mathijsen Aogo

Ze Roberto Jarolim

Trochowski Elia

Petric Berg

SWAG Prediction–2:1 HSV, goals by Elia and Boateng (a really swing for the fences [baseball term], I’ll admit, but he had a hell of a shot in Sunday’s match and I think he’s due).

Europa League Rant Box – HSV v. Hapoel

Chris — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:23:47 +0000

Match time is 14:05 CDT. Lineups to follow as they are posted.

It’s on!

Lineups:

Hapoel: Enyeama — Bondarv, Badir, Douglas, Ben-Dayan — Natcho, Menteshasvili, Yadin, Vermouth — Vucicevic, Yeboah

HSV: Rost — Demel, Boateng, Mathijsen, Aogo — Torun, Jarolim, Ze Roberto, Elia — Berg, Petric

Trochi’s out today. Still looking to see why. Nice to see Torun getting some playing time.