When the players, coaches and officials of HSV lined up for the obligatory team circle in the Ostseestadion early Sunday evening after the 3-2 win at FC Hansa Rostock, their coach did a lap in the midst of the crowd. It lasted longer than usual because the 46-year-old hugged each of his kickers and each member of the staff, from the bus driver to the kit man. The scenery testified to a great unity, which the team had always shown on the pitch this season, with few exceptions. Unlike his predecessors, Walter has managed to form a close-knit community.
“I’m really proud of how the guys crossed all obstacles, how they always came back after so many setbacks.”
— HSV coach Tim Walter
Thanks to this cohesion, the statistically best defense in the second division and 22 goals this season by Robert Glatzel, the HSV team, which is probably the weakest in the past four years, has managed to qualify for relegation with its fifth win in a row. “I’m really proud of how the boys overcame all obstacles, how they always came back after so many setbacks,” said Walter in the NDR interview.
From the supposed B to the ideal solution
When the always somewhat hoarse man from Bruchsal was appointed the new HSV coach last summer, it was quite a surprise. At his previous station, VfB Stuttgart, he was released after just a few months in third place and then spent a year and a half without a job. It was also a fairly open secret in Hamburg, where hardly a secret remains secret anyway, that the club would have preferred to go into its fourth second division season with Steffen Baumgart. But the preferred candidate accepted at 1. FC Köln. So the choice fell on Walter, who, unlike most of his predecessors, refrained from using the usual hackneyed phrases.
Instead of blustering that HSV is a big board that needs to be drilled, or a big club that actually belongs in the Bundesliga, the 46-year-old said, for example: “I’m a guy who picks up the boys and takes them with me I want to challenge and encourage the players.”
Right from the start, Walter relied on the performance principle
The coach did not speak of promotion as a goal at the time. He always wants to win every game, he said instead. In view of the departure of regular players such as top scorer Simon Terodde, keeper Sven Ulreich or ex-captain Aaron Hunt as well as financially less well-known additions, it would have also seemed daring to formulate the leap into the Bundesliga as a claim. Especially since soon after he took office, the veterans Toni Leistner and Klaus Gjasula, who were once brought in as “pillar players” (sports director Jonas Boldt), also fled. Neither of them were prepared to accept the new competition that had arisen under Walter. names? They were and are smoke and mirrors for the coach.
This was already evident in the first game of the season at FC Schalke 04 (3:1), in which a certain Maximilian Rohr suddenly came out of the box like Kai as a “joker” onto the Gelsenkirchen lawn. The 26-year-old had previously only played in the U23s, but had impressed Walter with his training performance.
HSV was the youngest team in the second division
Rohr was not the only personal surprise that the coach pulled out of a hat. In Faride Alidou and Anssi Suhonen, he helped two homegrown talents make their professional debuts. The latter in particular was a big factor for HSV in recent weeks due to his enormous willingness to run and his slightly anarchic style of play. Bitter for him and the team that he broke his fibula in training before the Hansa duel and is also absent for the relegation. Out of sight, out of mind? Not with Walter. “Today the team won a bit for the little one,” were his thoughts after the Rostock game with the 21-year-old Finn.
“We’re not playing against Felix, but against Hertha.”
— Tim Walter
The midfielder, who is only 1.70 meters tall, is one of Hamburg’s great hopes for the future. In previous years, when the primary focus was on expensive staff brought in from external clubs, he might have gone stale with the U21s. Now it’s “Jugend forscht” on Sylvesterallee: HSV fielded the youngest team in the league this season. Fluctuations in performance therefore came as no surprise. It was impressive that Walter’s young wild ones got out of the interim low and made up for a seven-point deficit in third place in the last five games. And the race to catch up showed the mentality of the team that HSV had always lacked in the season finale in previous years.
Harnik sees great opportunities for Hamburg’s rise
“The squad didn’t give as much quality as in recent years. And the team was younger than ever before. I think it’s very high that they achieved this third place,” said ex-HSV Professional Martin Harnik on Sunday evening in the NDR Sportclub. The former Austrian national player gambled away the promotion in the last few meters with the Hamburgers two years ago. The 34-year-old trusts the current team to return to the top floor. “If HSV performs like they did in the last few games, with this conviction, passion and mental strength, then they really have a great chance,” explained Harnik.