pre-match report
03.02.18
Hollerbach’s hotly anticipated home debut
Sunday sees HSV host Hannover in a Northern Derby. It will also mark the debut for Bernd Hollerbach in the Volksparkstadion as Rothosen coach, and the new boss is looking for some traditional methods and the support of the fans come 18:00CET.
There’ll definitely be a few more beats per minute on Hollerbach’s heartrate come 18:00 on Sunday. It was with heart, passion and team spirit that the Rothosen picked up their first point of the Rückrunde in Leipzig last weekend. It was the first time this season HSV had come from behind to earn a point. It was the traditional methods that the new man attributed the comeback to. The types of characteristics that the 48-year-old demonstrated as a player are now being applied to his role as a coach. Leaders such captain Gotoku Sakai and Kyriakos Papadopoulous have been encouraged under the new regime, but Hollerbach is also up for giving youth a chance, as proven by the deployment of youngsters like Rick van Drongelen. The 19-year-old was given his seventh start of the season against Leipzig, and along with Papadopoulous was able to keep the dangerous RB forward line quiet for the majority of the match. “It’s great to get to play with Papa. We’re good friends on and off the pitch, we think the same,” remarked the Dutch under-21 international. “It does not matter who I play with. We line up with 11 men on the pitch and it doesn’t matter how we start against Hannover, we are all going to give absolutely everything.”
Hollerbach looking forward to home debut
Words that Hollerbach will happily hear. Ahead of his debut in the Volksparkstadion dugout, Hollerbach made it very clear what he expects of his team come Sunday evening. “We must stay calm and make sure we act as one!” The relaxed nature when on the ball, coupled with his traditional methods are how HSV should approach Hannover. The draw in Leipzig demonstrated a new-found sense of trust and fresh impetus, which has carried over into the last week of training. “Concentrated and focused,” warned Breitenreiter. “They will try everything at home to put in a top performance, to bring their emotions out and to get the fans on their side. We need to make sure we keep our heads.”
Hannover currently sit mid table in the Bundesliga, with 27 points from 20 games, although confidence on the road of late has not been there. After collecting eight points from their first five away days, Hannover have earned just one of their travels since and they have only managed more than one goal. Furthermore, the club from Niedersachsen have conceded 28 goals in their last 14 games, and will arrive in Hamburg after a somewhat shocking defeat at home to VfL Wolfsburg seven days ago, despite being the better team for the majority. Breitenreitner will once again be without Edgar Prib and there is a small question mark as to the fitness of Niclas Füllkrug, who had to miss parts of training in the week with flu.
„This is our house! And we are going to fight together!“
Rick van Drongelen
Hollerbach has also had to spend his week planning for potential absentees. Gideon Jung will miss out after injuring his lower back in training. “We have to monitor him day by day,” explained Hollerbach, and this weekend’s game will come too soon for the 23-year-old, while Vasilije Janjicic also remains sidelined. Albin Ekdal, however, will be available for selection after recovering from ankle ligament damage, though it remains to be seen whether Hollerbach will stikc to a mix of youth and experience as he did in Leipzig for his first home game in charge. The fighting spirit shown during last week’s draw in Leipzig has woken everyone in the HSV squad up. “We now want to take the next step and get all three points,” said van Drongelen, reiterating the words of his coach by adding: “This is our house! And we are going to fight together!”
HSV Squad: Tor: Mathenia, Pollersbeck; Feld: Arp, Diekmeier, Douglas, Ekdal, Holtby, Hunt, Ito, Kostic, Mavraj, Papadopoulos, Sakai, Salihovic, van Drongelen, Walace, Waldschmidt, Wood
Potential Hannover line-up: Tschauner - Elez, S. Sane, Anton - Korb, Ostrzolek - Schwegler, Fossum - Klaus, Bebou - Füllkrug
Not available: Felipe (Aufbautraining nach Adduktorenverletzung), Prib (Aufbautraining nach Kreuzbandriss), Sarenren Bazee (Knieprobleme), Jonathas (Aufbautraining nach Oberschenkelverletzung)
Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Niederkassel)