Tuesday News and Notes

By: Chris | September 16th, 2008

Today’s news ahead of the UEFA Cup match with Romanian side Unrea Urziceni.

•Alex Silva was presented to the media yesterday. He said if HSV would let him sleep at the stadium he would. Love to have a new guy committed to the cause.

•Mladen Petric is not to pleased with his role coming off the bench, despite scoring the game winner against Leverkusen. Oh, and his wife just delivered a baby girl at their home in Switzerland. Same article quote BMJ as saying he’s not going to shake up the starting lineup if the team continues it’s winning form: (translated) “If Paolo Guerrero make his case well, I have no reason to change.” Sounds as though there may be trouble brewing. . .

•HSV’s play of late–you know, how they are on the wrong end of 2:0 scores before they start playing–is causing everyone concern, from the Board of Directors right down to the guy that washes the kits. And goalkeeper Frank Rost is really pissed.

•Hamburg Offside favorite Thimothee Atouba had a great match versus Leverkusen and is proving his worth to BMJ. You could knock me over with a feather.

•Despite not scoring, Thiago Neves received a standing ovation following the Leverkusen match by the home fans. He feels that the German game is faster than it is played in Brazil, but that he is match fit and can keep up. Frank Rost thinks he needs to accept that the Bundesliga is very phyical league and that not all fouls are called.

•Another good interview with BMJ following the Bayer match. The best quote: (translated) “Who gets the title should not make such mistakes as undermined us.” Nice to see that he is not caught up in the hype of being at the top of the table.

•This may be HSV’s best squad of all time (their words not mine). BMJ laid down the law before the Leverkusen match–giving 110% effort will not get you in the starting lineup any more, the players need to give 120%.

Going forward Atouba and Guy Dimel will be on the bench, and it’s great to have such quality depth chasing the Bundesliga title and the UEFA Cup. The starting defense will be Boateng and Jansen outside, with Alex Silva having already earned a starting spot because Jol feels there is a need for more pace in central defense. The last spot comes down to Joris Mathijsen and Bastian Reinhardt, and neither of them would be called “fleet of foot.” Mathijsen probably gets the nod, but it’s not written in stone. Midfield is much clearer with Nigel de Jong and David Jarolim in holding midfield positions, with Neves playing the number ten spot. Either Ivica Olic or Piotr Trochowski will play behind the striker but Olic prefers to play up front. Jonathan Pitroipa, Romeo Castelen (when he returns) and Anis Ben-Hatira are also in the mix. Guerrero is cemented in as the striker, and as previously noted, Mladen Petric is not to happy about it. No mention of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Tunay Torun, Anton Putsilo, Odidja Ofoe, Collin Benjamin or Dennis Aogo, which I found interesting, especially Choupo-Moting and Torun.