22.10.2018

“Sometimes you just need a goal to break the rut”

The day after HSV’s goalless draw at home to Bochum, Christian Titz spoke to the press about the disappointing result and the need for timely improvements.

Review

55% possession, 6-1 corners, 18-11 shots on goal – the home side were ahead on almost all stats on Sunday. However, the most important stat from the game was the score: 0-0. Titz’s side put in a tremendous effort to finally get their third home win of the season, but they created little in the final third and so struggled to find the breakthrough. The fans were just as disappointed as the players when referee Christof Günsch blew for full time. It was a day of missed opportunities and the players were self-critical following the game, with the current lack of goals at home due to not being dangerous enough in attack. Christian Titz was of the same opinion in his press conference today, and spoke at length about the issues currently surrounding his team. Titz spoke

about…

… the game against Bochum:

I think it was a decent draw to get. Both teams tried to play the ball forward, so there were often chances on the counter. We had a total of 17 attacks where we lacked the correct decision or the final pass, so obviously I’m not pleased, because we wanted to win at home.

… the lack of goals:

Whenever we put a few passes together, the final ball seems to be missing. There were a few situations where there was an overload and we could have got in behind, but then we made the wrong decision. Sometimes we get our positioning wrong, but other times we just play the ball too late. We’ll work on this issue in training and want to improve in Magdeburg on Friday.

… the fans’ disappointment:

People come to the stadium to see us win, so I completely understand that they’re not happy with the result. Nevertheless, I get the feeling that the vast majority of fans are backing us and pushing us forward. In the long run, we have to win our home games – that’s crystal clear. We’re not saying that everything’s great and we know that we’ve missed a chance. However, we know that the fans are still behind us and we won’t let our heads drop.

… the lack of fire power:

Sometimes in football, you just need a goal to break the rut. Confidence is very important in this respect. However, we’re not the only ones that are having this problem at the moment. I think there are a few different reasons for it. Often, it’s just small things that we could be doing better. These things work in training, but we need to work to implement them during a game. I trust the players to manage this.

… the lack of danger from set pieces:

They’re a very important part of the game, so we practise them twice a week. We know that a set piece can decide a game. We were dangerous from them at the start of the season, but less so recently. We’re working on them intensively.

… HSV’s progress:

Before the start of the season, we said that we’d be pleased if we were within touching distance of the top of the league after ten games. The fact that we’ve already topped the table this season, however, changes our expectations. The fact is that we’d like to have more points on the board. The home games haven’t gone ideally, but we want to fix that in the away games. If we improve in the final third, we’ll be more content.

No show from HSV

HSV head coach Markus Gisdol was forced into changing his team ahead of the trip south. Long term injured first choice keeper Adler was still recovering from a broken rib before his understudy Mathenia also got injured and was ruled out of the matchday 31 encounter. Up stepped under-21 stopper Mikel to the fray. Key winger Kostic who scored the only goal of the game between the two sides on matchday 14 was suspended so his place went to Austrian Gregoritsch. Ostrzolek got the nod at left back ahead of Douglas Santos while Walace replaced Jung in defensive midfield. Gisdol made four changes in all to the side which lost 1-2 at home to relegation certainties Darmstadt last time out. The new-look formation struggled early on. Augsburg created three top scoring opportunities within the opening 20 minutes. New keeper Mikel managed to keep out efforts by Kohr and Schmid and was grateful to be able to watch a Stafylidis free kick fizz narrowly wide of target. On 22 minutes the visitors were in luck again as an Altintop effort struck the left hand post with Mikel beaten. It seemed to the capacity crowd including yet another sold out contingent of travelling HSV faithful that it weould only be a matter of time before the home side would break the deadlock and they did as Altintop rounded off two counter attacks on 28 and 41 minutes to make the halftime score 2-0 to Augsburg. Mickel was powerless on both occasions and was HSV’s best man before the break.

Deserved defeat

Lasogga came on for Gregoritsch and Jung replaced Walace at the start of the second half as Gisdol opted for a two-pronged attack. Later Jatta replaced Ostrzolek. The ploy simply didn’t work as the Rothosen had more of the ball than in the previous half but were completely harmless in front of goal. Augsburg played a much more intelligent game and struck the woodwork again through Baier. That superior intelligence was underlined late on as Augsburg struck twice through Max and substitute Bobadilla (76., 85.). It was game over for HSV who failed to threaten until the 84th minute for Lasogga and Wood to miss chances. It was simply not good enough and the Rothosen remain just one point above the relegation play off spot in the table. Matchday 22 sees Gisdol and Co. host Mainz who are level on points but two places better due to a superior goal difference. Only a win will do as the teams lock horns at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg next Sunday (07.05.17, 3.30 PM).

Match details:

FC Augsburg:

Hitz - Verhaegh, Gouweleeuw, Hinteregger, Stafylidis - Kohr, D. Baier (88. Callsen-Bracker) - Schmid, Halil Altintop (80. Bobadilla), Max (87. Ji) - Finnbogason

HSV:

Mickel - Diekmeier, K. Papadopoulos, Mavraj, Ostrzolek (63. Jatta) - Sakai, Walace (46. Jung) - Gregoritsch (46. Lasogga), Holtby, Hunt - Wood

Goals:

1:0 Altintop (28.), 2:0 Altintop (41.), 3:0 Max (76.), 4:0 Bobadilla (85.)

Booked:

Baier (48.) / Mavraj (33.), Gregoritsch (44.), Ostrzolek (51.), Holtby (72.)

Referee:

Manuel Gräfe (Berlin)

Att:

30.660 (sold out)