Fink has the right idea, in that a team with high ambitions should dictate the game. I was all for him instilling this philosophy, even with the growing pains that were the beginning of the season, but now there seems to be little more than a retain possession at all costs regardless of how it actually dictates play philosophy. Hamburg play with a very, very high and wide line. Diekmeier, and especially Jansen, position themselves well into midfield when HSV are in possession – even if the ball is still in Hamburg’s own half. This is meant to allow for a wide array of passing options, but is also incredibly risky if someone gets dispossessed, and so requires technical gift in the centerback and central midfield positions.

Against most teams, Hamburg get dispossessed in a dangerous position at least two or three times. This then creates a massive sprint, usually of two or three forwards for the opposition who were pressing high up the pitch (as the Bundesliga is wont to do), against the two centerbacks, and then fullbacks sprinting back to try and help. And by fullbacks, I mean usually Diekemeier, as Jansen is usually all the way up the pitch trying to score a goal. Which he does sometimes, but man is he entirely absent on defense sometimes.

This has lead to Hamburg conceding the most shots on target in the league. This is not good! And when you face a team with good finishers (Huntelaar, Bastos, Bayern… you get the idea), the teams actually score on you.

Initially I thought that HSV conceding possession with this high line was part of Fink’s ambitious plan to eventual turn Hamburg into a Bayern-lite where they can control the tempo of the game. But as much possession as they usually get, they usually lose 60% of their duels and barely register anything from open play offensively. Passing the ball around the back for ten minutes and then lobbing it up to Son, who gets bullied off the ball, is an atrocious tactic. Not much has improved in this sense, and has really been even more exploited recently by the better teams of the league.

I agree with everyone in saying that neither Mancienne nor Bruma are good enough for the Bundesliga. And Sala, just what is he doing getting playing time on this team? Goodness, he was awful. Skjelbred and Jiracek are decent players, but they’re good squad fillers rather than difference makers. When Badelj is missing or is having an off day, the midfield is extremely timid and makes very few dangerous forays. The most dangerous and decisive player on offense is usually Jansen, but that he means he’s completely absent on defense for half of the game.

Meanwhile, I have been relatively quiet as of late, but I have made no bones about my opinion on Son. David, in the last comments thread put it perfectly: “I agree with you that Son has talent, however I fear that his talent is in shooting and running with the ball with large spaces in front of him.” This is put more concisely than what I have been trying to say for months – in that he is extremely talented, but in essentially one sort of play – having tons and tons of space, and then having time to wind up and shoot. His ‘poacher’ abilities aren’t even anything above average. Teams that harass him physically, and that have centerbacks who aren’t stone foot slow (like Mainz, when basically Badelj just hucked the ball through them and let Son run) can extremely easily make him an extreme weak point. Not even a neutral point, like Rudnevs tends to be, where at least he can hold the ball up for a second or will try to make a pass quickly – Son only ever has one thing on his mind, which is to find space and to shoot. So many times in his career he has received the ball on a 2 on 1 or something of that ilk and then just kind of wandered into a centerback whom he was hoping to nutmeg – despite Van der Vaart, or whoever, begging for a simple lead pass into space. He’s great when he scores, but he is really negative otherwise. I will be happy if and when they sell him, especially if it means Beister gets consistent playing time alongside Rudnevs.

The Bundesliga’s top teams have made an innovation in world football recently – that possession is important, but is a byproduct of positive and crisp play, rather than vicaversa, the way Hamburg is attempting (or on an obviously better scale, Barcelona attempted to play against Bayern last week). Dortmund lost possession stats in many of their group stage games but were clearly the better side – they transition the ball out of the back, to the midfield and to the forwards with extreme quickness and overlaps. Sometimes this can mean losing the ball, but since not every player is up the field in possession, it means that they have defenders already back in position to help defend. Hamburg get possession so that they can say they’ve had possession, but with little idea of how to get any sort of look at goal without throwing 9 of the 11 players up the pitch. This tactic is useless and counterproductive, except against teams that are absolutely uninterested and incapable of countering with any gusto.

Anyways, there’s my two cents. Comment away!

Ok, let’s take a big breath here. Bayern has repeatedly shamed Hamburg (especially in Munich) over the past few years, so I guess this wasn’t entirely out of the question. And Bayern is one of the top two or three (at least!) teams in the world right now. But still, nine goals? NINE? Giving up five goals is embarrassing. Giving up four would be pretty bad too. But then you give up both five and four goals in the same match!
I didn’t get to watch the game, but all of the highlights seemed to show that Hamburg had 1) Been told to clog passing lanes rather than close down the ball handler, and then 2) this was compounded by being more and more terrified throughout the game. Bayern have an insane attack, with every player having technical ability, good passing and vision, and pace. This makes it very difficult to defend against them, and I guess Fink decided that he wanted to close down passing lanes more than anything in the first half. This, however, lead to an almost surprised looking Bayern team finding themselves in acres of space in midfield, with absolutely nobody closing them down. Did I mention that all of Bayern’s players are also good at shooting from distance?
This meant that Shaquiri could shoot with nobody around him, from the direct middle of the park, and just pick a corner of the net out. Anyway, that’s what I was able to gather, but I didn’t watch the whole game, and I don’t intend to.
If nothing else, this game shows how not-ready Hamburg are for the champions league. Remember when HSV was looking like they might finish top four? Honestly, let’s hope they don’t, even if I still think the Europa League might be a decent speed for them to develop in. Even then, quick thinking teams that can actually shoot AND finish (remember, Hamburg were already first in the league in shots allowed per game) then things can go south quickly.
Other people’s thoughts?

Hamburg registered a tight, fairly equal victory over fellow Europe-hopefuls Borussia Mönchengladbach via an absolute rocket from the talented left foot of Rafael Van der Vaart. Other than that, it was a tale of two halves – Hamburg dominated in the first, BMG faired much better in the second. Hamburg cemented 6th place, tied for 5th on points with Hamburg, and finish the weekend three points out of a tie for the final champions league spot. With hopes for Europe no longer being easily dismissed as ‘never gonna happen’, Fink thundered this quote about the situation: “We are still not ready for Europe.”

Fink decided to utilize Slobodan's ability to make the ball float with his mind against Mönchengladbach

But first, the game. Mönchengladbach have had quite the leaky defense this season (compared to last), and this was again exploited in their midweek Europa League matchup against Lazio Rome. As the game plan for Lazio was quick, early crosses meant to bend around the centerbacks’ high defensive line, the game plan was thusly for Hamburg. Jansen usually puts in his fair share of early crosses anyway, but it was the fact that Diekmeier (who usually tries to beat everyone with his pace before looking up to cross) was also doing so that alerted me to the fact that this was a tactical decision by Fink. This also meant that the staple of Favre (which has struggled since the pace of Marco Reus has left them) of quickly transitioning from midfield to attack and then scoring opportunities would also be quelled – if the fullbacks are crossing early, then they aren’t as far down the field, keeping them in a defensive position. This tactic ultimately lead to a lot of ‘attempted ideas’ in offense, with the defenses being well coped to cut them out (true for both sides). Still, Hamburg were much the better side in the first half.

This was rewarded by something that wasn’t much in the way of buildup play, or tactics – Mönchengladbach misplaced a pass (that the always aware and always full of energy, no matter who has the ball) Rudnevs picked off in BMG’s own half. He smartly played the ball across the middle to Van der Vaart, who despite having to lunge a bit to get his first touch, rifled his foot through the ball from outside the box with his second touch. The ball swurved away from the helpless Ter Stegen, and Hamburg were up 1-0 due to a bit of individual class. It was Van der Vaart’s second goal of the season – both wonder goals, both against the Foals.

After that, Hamburg’s dominance of the game went wayward – an annoying trait with this young and inexperienced team. Unlike Bayern, who will cruise about the park with even more confidence than before and make sure the other team never gets the ball, or Dortmund, who remain in waiting to unleash a killer counterattack, Hamburg kind of say “Cool! We have the lead! Shitshitshitshit don’t give up a goal”. This is no way to spend 50 minutes of a match that you’re only winning by 1 goal!

Thus brings us to Fink’s comment on Hamburg not being ready for Europe. This team has talent all over the place, and even depth in most areas (notably not striker) – but it’s the mentality that continuously makes them look fragile and young. Going into Dortmund with nothing to lose helped them play the whole game with confidence, but usually Hamburg plays one fabulous half and then one half where they aren’t quite sure how they’re supposed to play. Now, this is better than the beginning of the season, where the whole game was the team shaking in their boots and then thanking Rene Adler at the end, but it’s still not good enough. I’m not saying they need to be Bayern controlling 98% of the game, but you need to do better than one half. And, maybe even more importantly, Hamburg continue to look nervous once they’ve taken a lead. Too many times they coil up into their shell and stop really trying to make headway into the opponent’s half – they don’t know whether to kill off the opponent with another goal, or to just play it safe and pass it around the back forever. This ends up with a cautious team that ends up having a lot of problems retaining possession – simply because they don’t know what the plan is yet. This will come with more experience. But, right now, despite them having beaten Europa League challenger BMG and champion’s league group stage performers Dortmund, I would not want them to be in Europe. Honestly, I think it would be an embarrassing experience. But give them another six months…

Anyway, this team is looking good. This was a workman-like victory against a good, though not very good, team. You’re going to have games like this throughout the season, and it’s a very positive sign when you can work three points out of it. Fink’s plans for the team are clearly more subtle than the ‘fireman’ type coach (Huub Stevens) who perhaps would have gotten a quicker response. But where is Stevens now?

Player Ratings

Drobny – 7.0 – Got a rare start as Adler was out injured, and picked up where he left off last season: a nicely above average goalie. Doesn’t have the reflexes or organizational skills that Adler does, but might have a better command of the area, especially on corners. Very nice game.

Diekmeier – 6.5 – Dennis continues to progress, ever so subtly, every game. Remember when he was an awful defender and he was only good for his runs forward? Now he’s a responsible member of defense, wins a decent amount of headers and marks well. He’s not a tackling champ like Jansen yet, but give this physical specimen some time!

Westermann – 7.5 – Great game from Der Kapitän. Was imperious at the back and tackled like he usually does, with some nice distribution. This was a game for the defenses of both sides, and Westermann was a huge part of Hamburg’s.

Rajkovic – 8.0 – What a game from Slobodan! If you guys remember, he was my preferred of the three new guys (Bruma, Mancienne and himself) for the other CB spot next to Westermann, until… well until he kept smashing people in the head. Through injuries and suspensions, Slobodan found himself back in the starting lineup, and looked determined to show himself good. I hope he gets more starts! I had forgotten about his ball skills – dude can dribble and pass with great technique – including one time in the first half where he got by a couple of defenders and played Aogo through into the BMG’s box. Is also strong as an ox – in 50/50 challenges, not a single BMG player could budge him off the ball. Still, whiffed on a ball in the box that BMG could have pounced on, otherwise would get a 9.0.

Jansen – 7.0 – Jansen’s resurgence continues – what a talented man! Enjoys his partnership with Aogo immensely, and tackles people with his long legs that nobody would think possible. Consistently put the ball into dangerous areas in attack.

Badelj – 6.0 – An odd amount of misplaced passes from Badelj, who I still think gets the short straw in the 4-4-2 diamond – the role in the diamond is a bit more suited for someone like Rincon. Also not quite the crusher he can be, ‘only’ winning ten tackles. Solid, but not exceptional performance.

Skjelbred – 7.0 – Another nice performance from Per, who has really stepped up his game defensively. Ten tackles and 30/36 in passing makes up for a very nice game, though he needs to learn to shoot when he has the chance. Could have made it 2-0 at one point.

Aogo – 6.5 – A similar performance to Skjelbred, just slightly less 50/50’s won and a slightly worse passing ratio. Still, good game.

Van der Vaart – 7.5 – Drifted in and out of the game, but it was his sublime wonder goal that won the game. It’s a wonderful luxury to have that boot on the pitch in a tight game.

Son – 5.0 – There’s been a lot of praise from Son recently, including from me, but he still has a long way to go. He’s essentially useless when he’s not given time on the ball, which makes him not particularly versatile. For the entire game, Son was 8/12 in passing. And, unlike Rudnevs, who had a fortunate assist, Son didn’t turn up to win 50/50’s either  – the lowest number for either side’s starting outfield players.

Rudnevs – 6.0 – Was, like Son, made to be very quiet in this game, but never stopped running and eventually made the interception and the pass to assist Van der Vaart. Also won a very nice amount of duals.

Subs

Marcus Berg – 10 million – For still being on the team and wanting to play

Anyway, sorry for the long post – I’ve been a busy young man recently and so haven’t had been able to properly post. Post your thoughts! nur der HSV!

My question for this week is: what do people think of the 4-4-2 diamond vs. the 4-2-3-1 that was deployed second half? Or another formation on people’s minds?

I personally think they could switch it up based off of the opponent – I didn’t like a 4-4-2 against a team that was going to sit back and then quickly defend because it leaves Badelj as the last midfielder to try and make up a lot of ground – I think he works well as the only DM for passing because he can dictate the play well from back there, but defensively he is much better with a partner that can help him because of his severe lack of pace.

Thoughts?!

Mmmmm

I’ll be back with player ratings and all that jazz later. For now air your thoughts below! Nur der HSV!

But the addition of Skjelbred really helped Hamburg compose themselves – Skjelbred may not be super dynamic going forward, but he is excellent at playing quick passes or dancing around midfielders in order to retain the ball. This seemed to remind the rest of HSV of how to do that – and how you can quickly tire out a high-pressing Nürnberg side that at first overwhelmed them.
The second half was an entirely different story. Eventually it was a nice interchange between Jansen and Aogo that lead to a nicely weighted cross (the first time I’ve ever written that phrase here?) finding the beautiful Latvian head of Artjoms Rudnevs, which then redirected the ball into the net. Hamburg managed to concede the equalizer via just some poor marking and defensive confusion shortly afterwards – but for me, that was an exception to the rule of Hamburg dominating the second half. I really thought that – gasp – Hamburg even played some pretty good attacking football! If Son had managed to find the net with any of his four decent chances (and yes one did hit the post, so there was some poor luck) then Hamburg walk away with a nice road victory. Instead, the spoils are split, which isn’t such a bad thing, considering it leaves Hamburg only a couple of points out of European spots and very comfortably in midtable.
I’ll be back with player ratings and pics and stuff in a bit.

Player Ratings

Adler – 6.5. – Didn’t have nearly as much to do as he is used to this season, and took care of everything that he could be expected to. No chance for the equalizer.

Diekmeier – 5.5 – I like Dennis, but it sort of seems like we’re starting to see a plateau for him – a pacy right back who can get forward reasonably well when given space and who can tackle reasonably well, but sometimes fails to keep up mentally with the man who he is marking and isn’t great at quick passing/buildup play. The cross sent in for the equalizer was from the man who he was meant to be covering, and he lost him.

Mancienne – N/A – Was doing OK considering how poorly everyone else was doing, but then got injured, the poor bastard.

Westermann – 6.5 – Had a good game at the back with some trademark last minute tackles, and as always, was very instrumental in initiating buildup play. Distributed well.

Jansen – 6.5 – Him and Aogo (especially in the second half) began to give Danny Williams a lot to think about in the second half, though it did take him a bit of time to get into the match. Defended well.

Aogo – 6.5 – Provided the assist for Rudnevs, and provided Son with at least two of the four chances that should have been taken in the second half. Was slow out of the gate, but providing that many goal scoring opportunities deserves some recognition for a man who disappointed greatly in the first half of the season. Helped provide defensive cover and retain ball possession well, again especially in the second half. May have been the culprit of letting the midfielder who drifted into the box and score get away from him.

Arslan – 3.0 – Tolgay’s got a temper! Another one of those ridiculous, mean-spirited tackles that could have gotten him sent off was enough to have him embarrassingly substituted in the first half. Did nothing but look unprepared for the match mentally.

Badelj – 6.0 – Had a very sub par first half, but made up for it in the second. Distributed wonderfully, but some of his tackles were very late and he seemed slower than usual when trying to catch up on counterattacks. Seemed a bit gassed by the end of the game.

Van der Vaart – 6.5 – Tries and tries and tries – his heart is clearly into this Hamburg team – but is ultimately still not quite showing “superstar” quality performances. His ideas are usually good, and his talent can show up in ways that help create a small chance out of nothing (for example his lovely turn and shoot from outside the box that lead to a corner), but he’s found it difficult to shine so far on this underwhelming Hamburg attacking side. Lots of effort and good passing, though.

Son – 5.5 – Son had a mixed game, and I ultimately put him at slightly below par because he failed with all four of his chances to put HSV ahead in the second half. That fails to reflect some very positive signs from him, however – did anyone else notice that he really put an emphasis on passing? And not only that, he is pretty good at passing when he puts his mind to it! There were a couple of times where he received the ball and looked up to rip one from distance, but then clearly thought better of it and would unleash a teammate (usually Diekmeier) down the field. Promising signs, though he still should have found himself on the score sheet.

Rudnevs – 7.0 – Another goal from Artjoms, who is quickly becoming an excellent under the radar player. For all the hubbub and Premier League rumors over Son, Rudnevs has the same scorer points (7 goals, 3 assists) as Mario Götze. And Götze has several players that he can feed and be fed by! Artjoms made the most of his headed effort, and even pulled out a 360 when in a tricky spot. Looking more and more like he was an absolute steal from the Polska Liga.

Subs

Bruma – 6.5 – Did a very nice job and took his surprise chance quite well. Still a relatively awful passer, though.

Skjelbred – 7.0 – For me, he changed the mindset of HSV when he came on by leading by example. Helped compose the entire team by his intelligent dribbling and exact passing. Is a relatively safe player that isn’t much for doing anything exciting, but really calmed down the whole side and for that he deserves a lot of credit.

Tesche – 100,00.5 – For not being there

Leave your thoughts, musings, hopes and dreams?!?!

A game which inspired an awful headline for this blog can only have been equally as awful. A 3-0 drubbing by a talented and organized Leverkusen side is not exactly embarrassing, but it’s very close to it. Stefan Kießling and Andre Schürrle each gave Hamburg a nightmare they won’t soon forget, and their combination (along with some help from Gonzalo Castro) scored or assisted all three goals.

Hamburg were repeatedly ripped apart on defense, and Heiko Westermann flatly had an awful game, including gifting Kießling the third goal. I’ve made it clear that I love a 4-3-3 (or 4-3-1-2) formation, and a brilliant 4-3-3 is what Hyppia and Lewandowski use. It seemed like HSV had never seen such a thing before, and looked entirely unprepared to be honest. Leaving Badelj as essentially the only holding midfielder against three forwards was something our beloved Croat could only muster for so long before looking visibly gassed. Rudnevs did manage to hit a decent shot from distance early on and then later hit the post on a fine header, and Son looked dangerous from a couple of shots from distance as well, but other than that there wasn’t a ton of offense going on. Aogo  somehow managed to miss a goal from like five feet after Rudnevs’ post shot, and was in general horrible (remember that terrible backpass early on that Schürrle could only hit the post on?). Lam looked overpowered against a better crop of players, and Skjelbred and Diekmeier were equally as listless.

Huub Stevens was fired this weekend – who would have thought he would go before Fink when both coaches were hired around the same time? I will do a post over the winter break about Fink’s tactics and preferences (one is what I believe to be his counterproductive preference of choosing attacking players based off of their ability to contribute defensively i.e. Son vs. Beister beginning of the year / Ivo now).

MIDTABLE OBSCURITY

Hopefully this will be done on SB Nation! I happened to be followed on Twitter by the Bundesliga editor at SB Nation, and after sending him a note, he is talking to the bosses about getting us over there. SO THERE IS A GLIMMER OF HOPE.

Also in the coming weeks – Hinrunde report cards! So keep on checking in, leaving your thoughts, engaging in discussion, sharing your gift ideas for relatives, whatever. Nur der HSV!