Catching up

By: Chris | October 7th, 2008

A lot has happened since my last post, and frankly you’ll have to forgive me–my family life and my vocation have completely interfered with my avocation.

When last we checked in with Die Rothosen, they had been shellacked by Felix Magath and Wolfsburg 3-nil on three early goals. HSV dominated play in the 2nd half, but Wolfsburg kept 10 men behind the ball and did not crack under the pressure. Prior to the Wolfsburg debacle, HSV had drawn 0:0 at home in the UEFA Cup with then-leaders Unirea Urziceni of the Romanian Liga 1. Flash forward a week and the Hanseaten are on a proverbial roll, and once again sit atop the 1. Bundesliga table. Following the Wolfsburg match, Hamburg took on Vfl Bochum in the DFB-Pokal. This looked to be somewhat of a trap game, as Bochum had been quite successful versus HSV in recent contests, winning 4 of the previous 6 matches. But all my worrying was for naught, as Mladen Petric did prove to be the perfect weapon for the Cup run, knocking home both goals in a 2:0 win at the ‘Bank on 24 September. On Saturday 27 September, HSV squeaked out a 1:0 victory versus nosediving ‘Gladbach, with the lone goal coming from the golden foot of–you guessed it–Mladen Petric (that’s a running theme this week). Thursday past saw Hamburg travel to Romania for the return leg of the UEFA Cup qualifier with Urziceni. The result was 2:0 for the visitors, with both goals scored by Petric. And finally, HSV travelled to Cottbus this past Sunday to take on relegation struggler’s Energie. HSV took the 3 points with goals by Olic and Petric. And let’s stop and recap Petric’s performance over the course of the past fortnight: 4 matches (in all competitions), 6 goals. Remmeber that HSV traded Mohamed Zidan and cash to Dortmund for Petric prior to the start of the season. I think that trade has worked out pretty well for Hamburg. Some bad news out of the Cottbus match: Marcell Jansen and the rejuvenated Thimothee Atouba both suffered muscle injuries. Atouba has (fortunately) only suffered a strain and should be back on the pitch after some rest. The prognosis for Jansen is not nearly as rosy: His MRI indicated a torn left quadriceps, and he may not be fit for the big match versus Schalke ‘04 on 19 October. The knock on Jansen has never been his talent or his head–it’s been his inability to stay out of the trainer’s room and stay on the pitch. Hopefully this will not be a recurring scenario for Jansen at HSV.

The UEFA Cup draw took place this morning, and Hamburg have drawn some attractive, but imposing opponents for the group stage. Hamburg were drawn from the first pot and landed in Group F, along with fellow former European champions Aston Villa and Ajax. Slavia Prague and MŠK Žilina (from Slovakia) round out the group. The good news is that HSV get Villa and Ajax at home; the bad news is that they have to play Villa (who are playing quite well despite their recent 2-0 loss to undermanned Chelsea) and Ajax . The road matches versus Slavia Prague and MŠK Žilina won’t be easy, but barring a complete meltdown, HSV should grab a point in each. I am particularly keen on seeing the Ajax match, as it will be played on the day that Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US, and I will have a good reason to sit down and drink beer on a Thursday morning before the traditional holiday gridiron matches come on. The match versus Slavia Prague ought to be interesting, too–David Jarolim will be facing the club managed by his father.