Sieg Teuer

By: Chris | October 25th, 2008

HSV defeated MŠK Žilina 2-1 Thursday evening on a pair from the Croatian Combination (Olic and Petric–do you like that nickname? I came up with it myself ), but it was a costly victory. The backline depth will be tested even more with the news that Thimothee Atouba is lost for an undetermined period with a ruptured achilles tendon, an injury with which The Hamburg Offside is all too familiar.

Down goes Atouba! Atouba was apparently (apparently because no one outside of Zilina saw this game) injured on a hard foul by Žilina’s Peter Styver. Atouba is scheduled to have an MRI today to determine what the extent of the damage. This fact leads me to believe that he suffered a rupture and not a complete tear of the tendon. UPDATED: A complete tear has been confirmed via MRI on Friday. If he had suffered a complete tear (as I did), the trainers would have been able to observe that there was no tendon visible in the back of his leg, from his heel to mid-calf (seriously, there’s nothing there–it’s kind of creepy). Here’s what I can tell you about a ruptured/torn achilles tendon from my own experience: following surgery to repair the damage, the foot is immobilized in a cast for a period of 3-6 weeks; after removal of the cast, the patient is placed in a supportive walking boot for a period of four to six weeks and begins rehabilitation of the injury to regain range of movement and strengthen the atrophied calf and foot muscles; at approximately 12 weeks the patient can begin to remove the supportive boot and begin walking with two shoes. Aerobic exercise is limited to walking on a flat surface (as able) or riding a stationary bike, and strength training with weight lifting is necessary to maintain anaerobic fitness.

I suffered my injury on 23 June 2008 and had surgery 3 days later. That makes me 17 weeks and 4 days since the injury; 17 days and 1 day post-op. I am NOWHERE near able to run on a flat surface, which my orthopedic surgeon approved last week (as I am able), let alone run on the pitch with world-class footballers for 90+ minutes. Now, professional athletes have many more options available to them to assist and speed their recovery, but the bottom line is that Atouba is done for this season. If we get him back, it will be like getting a free transfer mid-season. I feel bad about dogging the guy so much last year. He clearly has been one of BMJ’s favorites and Jol has proven his skills as a gaffer (IMO) by being able to turn Atouba’s flagging attitude (and career) around. Look for Jerome Boateng if healthy, or Dennis Aogo if not, to step into Atouba’s spot with the first XI. There is further speculation that because of the injury, Atouba has played his last match in the HSV strip. Atouba’s contract expires at the end of this season and a preliminary deal to move him to Newcastle United had been completed, but Atouba did not travel to Newcastle for his physical and the transfer was voided. Timmy had essentially been auditioning for other clubs this season (let’s face it–with new transfers Dennis Aogo, Alex Silva and Marcell Jansen coming in, there was no place for him; he was playing because Alex Silva hasn’t quite adjusted yet and Jansen has glass knees) and now that he’s hurt, he’s not going to be able to showcase his talents for other clubs, and if he is signed by someone else, it will likely be at a pretty good discount because of that (and the injury, too).

OK–the match report: HSV played well for extended periods but this was not a focused effort, and they had Hamburg Offside favorite Frank Rost to thank for maintaining victory on the road. That’s it. I can’t offer any more because there isn’t a whole lot of news due to the black out.

Up next are 1. Bundesliga neophytes TSG 1899 Hoffenheim who have absolutely set the league ablaze in their first campaign. As of Friday, Hoffenheim sit second in the table 1 point back of the Hanseaten, from 5 victories and 1 draw in 8 Bundesliga matches. Despite this being their first season in the 1. Bundesliga, Hoffenheim are not the village side that everyone made them out to be prior to the start of the campaign. This is a formidable foe, who are absolutely lightning quick on the counter-attack, as evidenced by their league leading 22 goals scored. The match preview on Bundesliga.de makes a very interesting point: Hoffenheim have played a total of 8 matches in their Bundesliga history (since August 2008) while HSV have played 1534 B’liga matches since 1963. Raphael Honigstein has a great Bundesliga column in The Guardian (UK), and this week he writes about Hoffenheim’s hard-charging style and their “demolition” of Hannover last week. He attributes 1899’s success not to an abundance of expensive players (their Brazilian striker Wellington “only” set them back €8M–relatively low compared to some of the fees paid in the Serie A, La Liga or the EPL), but to a new set of ideas about how to run a Bundesliga campaign–a veritable breath of fresh air.

So, HSV will be fortunate to leave Hoffenheim with a point, in light of Hoffenheim’s explosiveness and Hamburg’s patchwork defensive corps. The HSV offense is playing very well (as they have all season). There is late word that Paolo Guerrero is doubtful with a calf injury; if he can’t go, look for Jonathon Pitroipa to step in (which is just fine; The Hamburg Offside is a biiiiggg fan of Pitroipa’s). The problem right now at Hamburg is that the team a prone to prolonged lapses in concentration and let opponents who they seemingly have put away back into the match, and that will be their demise versus 1899. The optimist in me sees an exciting 2-2 draw; the realist in me says that this is the week that the injuries catch up with Hamburg and they drop the match 4-2.