display

Shortly before the home game against Darmstadt 98, coach Daniel Thioune has to organize the discussions at Hamburger SV.

Not the corona pandemic, which is increasingly interfering with the schedule of the second Bundesliga and causing a tight schedule, but the next match on Friday (6.30 p.m. / Sky) should be the dominant topic in the Volkspark.

“This is our daily bread.

We have to make sure that we only concentrate on that, ”warned Thioune.

The postponement of the game against Sandhausen (originally April 16) and the possible cancellation against Karlsruher SC (April 20) should not play a role immediately before a game.

It's about three points and maintaining second place in the table.

And: It's about promotion to the Bundesliga.

"A certain amount of cleverness was missing"

After the unsatisfactory 3: 3 at Hannover 96 on Easter Sunday, the coach does not want to allow any further loss of points against Darmstadt.

He's still pondering the reasons for the lost victory at the Lower Saxony.

A "certain degree of cleverness was missing," said Thioune.

"I do believe that we can be expected to not let anything go wrong with a 3-0 lead." The coach wants to see his team more hardened in the future.

His minimum requirement for Friday evening is: "The zero in the back and the one in front."

display

HSV has to play seven games until the end of the season.

Of all the aspirants for promotion, the Hanseatic League has supposedly the easiest remaining program.

At least that's what the table says.

Six opponents are currently in positions twelve to 17, only the Karlsruher SC falls out of the frame in sixth.

"The place in the table never decides how a game will end, but always your own performance on the field," says Thioune and recalls the HSV defeat at the bottom of the table, Würzburger Kickers (2: 3).

In the final phase of the championship it is therefore of particular importance for the Hamburgers that everyone is on deck.

Even the long-term injured Rick van Drongelen is pushing back into the starting line-up.

"For me as a coach, it is always difficult decisions to make the final eleven", admits Thioune and emphasizes in view of the upcoming English weeks: "Every single one is needed in our squad." The 46-year-old football teacher is convinced that one can replace the other qualitatively.

But there is one prerequisite: "We need players on the pitch who are able to play to the limit."

What will come after the Darmstadt game is uncertain.

If the current quarantine teams have to fully exhaust their 14-day isolation, the Hamburgers go into two weeks without play.

What Thioune does not see as the big handicap.

Because other teams that are not allowed to train together in quarantine and whose professionals at home “just sit on their bikes and look in front of the wall”, as Thioune says, can quickly lose their rhythm.