"I have complete confidence in my team".

There was a big crowd in the press conference room of the Volksparkstadion when Tim Walter took his seat on the podium on Thursday (16 March). The main reason was obvious: Walter had seen the red card during the away match in Karlsruhe and was subsequently suspended by the DFB for the upcoming home match against Holstein Kiel on Saturday (18 March). "I made a mistake for which I apologise," said the coach about the special circumstance, "I'm an emotional person, so something can happen that shouldn't really happen. But it won't happen to me again." 

And so Walter then directed his gaze directly forward again and spoke to the journalists present about the personnel situation, the opponent from Kiel and explained how they will approach this task - also in the coaching team, for whom it will be the first game in which the boss is not sitting on the bench. "We'll solve this as a team," Walter repeated prayerfully and gave an all-round overview of the HSV week and the current topics. In particular, Tim Walter spoke about....
 

... the reappraisal of the KSC game: "We had a good exchange after the game, that's the most important thing for me. And the players also communicated well with each other, which is why we quickly regained our self-confidence. We are second and have now lost a game, something like that just happens. But we have a strong team with great boys who have worked well again this week. 

"It's not about who plays, but how you play."

... the upcoming opponent Holstein Kiel: For us, the pattern repeats itself in most of our games. We want to play our opponents and try to force them into the back, while Kiel, like most teams against us, will see their chance in the transition moments. In these cases, we have to defend better than we did in Karlsruhe last time, then I think we have a very good chance of winning this game with our boys and girls in the stands behind us.

... the chances of captain Sebastian Schonlau: "With Bascho, we'll see what the best long-term solution is. There's no point in him being out for a long time because of false ambition. So far it looks quite good, but we will decide in consultation with him and the doctors whether it makes sense to use him at the weekend. But we've already won games without Bascho, because it's not always about who comes on, but how you come on. Body language, tackling - that's what it's all about.

... His suspension for the Kiel game: I will not be allowed to have any contact with the team in the 30 minutes before and after the game. But the main work before a game takes place in the training week anyway, so we'll manage everything well, especially since I have complete trust in my coaching team and my squad. That is the focus for me this week, just like our analysis of the opponent, and less the question of where I will watch the game from.