Post Match Thought's
03.04.22
Promotion places, development dents & the lessons of history
HSV board member Jonas Boldt was available to the media on Sunday for an in-depth interview that went far beyond the analysis of the 2-1 home defeat against SC Paderborn the day before.
When HSV coach Tim Walter entered the training ground with his team on Sunday morning (3 April), HSV board member Jonas Boldt was also on the pitch. And while Walter and his team were working on the pitch, Boldt was answering the questions of the journalists who had gathered at the Volkspark after the 2-1 defeat against SC Paderborn. These revolved primarily around the game itself, the competition for the promotion places and the very general assessment of HSV's situation. And the answers even went far beyond that. Jonas Boldt on...
... the 1:2 against SC Paderborn: "If we go through with our plan one hundred percent, with full conviction and great courage, then we make our best games. If we only do it half-heartedly, for whatever reason, then we get in our own way. Unfortunately, that was exactly the case yesterday, even though we still had chances, two goals were disallowed due to narrow offsides and we missed a penalty. We are correspondingly disappointed. You can't deny the will and commitment of the boys, but the fact that not everything worked out is absolutely clear and disappointing.
"We are the only team that can make up some ground in the catch-up game against Aue, that's the goal now, and that's where all our attention is."
... the crowd response: "I think it's very positive that almost 30,000 people got behind our path and the team yesterday. You have to remember: There were no season tickets this season after two years of Corona, we are starting from zero accordingly. Considering that, I thought the crowd was good and I was also very happy about the support and the atmosphere. Our task now is to pick up the people again, to convince them of our way and our football. Then we will be able to increase the number of spectators even more.
... the situation at the end of the season: I am the very last person to say that the season is over. But of course I can read the table and see that the gap to the promotion places is bigger than we would like and that it will be difficult for us. The last five games weren't very successful, so we've lost ground, but we're the only team that can make up some ground on Tuesday in the catch-up game against Aue. That's the goal now, that's where all our attention is. But: To do that, we absolutely have to get our conviction back and give everything we've got for 90 minutes in every single game. We are not yet able to do that, we are not yet consistently doing what we want to do. Nevertheless, you can see that the team wants to do everything.
"For me, in Hamburg, development is the only way to be successful in the long run, everything else doesn't work, history has taught us that."
... the special circumstances: HSV is a very special, a very special club that gets a tremendous amount of attention. You have to be able to deal with that. If you want to be successful at this location, it takes more than just being able to play good football. Maybe that's why some players perform better and more easily in the middle of the season, a supposedly less decisive phase, than they do now in crunch time. And then later, at a club that doesn't attract a lot of attention, they manage to do it again permanently and even become leading players. You have to come to terms with the attention and the expectations due to the big name HSV and the location of Hamburg. But we're working on that, too, and it takes time to learn and mature.
... the topic of development: We have the ambition to be successful, but it's not a matter of course, because you don't get anything for free in this league. It no longer works to bring in three or four top-class players and let them sort it out. The big challenge is to perform at your best as a team over the long course of a season. Just like Union Berlin, Greuther Fürth or VfL Bochum have done in recent years. If you take a look at these clubs, you will notice: There was a path, a team stayed together, a team was able to develop and improve over a certain period of time. That's no guarantee, but it can be a model for success. And for me, it is the only way to be successful in the long term in Hamburg.
Everything else does not work, history has taught us that. That's why we have decided to follow this path without compromise. It is a long-term path with a very young squad, with a lot of talent and the will to develop. Sometimes there will be bumps in the road, because development doesn't always go upwards. You have to learn from these phases and let people realise that, in the long run, the development is going upwards. You can see that with the majority of the players, but you have to give some of them a little more time. Overall, it's about building something up, even at the risk of not achieving the goals immediately. This path requires patience, and now we have to go beyond this point together.