Post Match Thought's
22.01.22
The Important question: Confirmation of the path ahead
HSV deservedly won the Stadtderby against FCSP with a score of 2:1. The success factors are manifold and strengthen the confidence in the chosen path.
The day after began exactly as the evening before ended: with work. On Saturday, the Red Shorts managed to get the energy-sapping 2-1 home win against FCSP over time, and this morning, the regeneration processes were set in motion in the weight room. Even after an exhausting English week with a total of 300 minutes of action (90 in Dresden, 120 in Cologne, 90 against FCSP), HSV head coach Tim Walter didn't allow a day off and instead continued his strategy: progress is to be made with diligent training work, which will then guarantee a higher probability of success in the matches. Just like yesterday, when the first stadtderby win in almost three years (last was 10 March 2019) was clinched. The basis for the deserved success was several factors, all of which are directly related to the core virtues of Tim Walter's football.
Will
When Sebastian Schonlau blocked Lukas Daschner's potentially extremely dangerous finish with his face in the 83rd minute at 2-1, it was first and foremost painful, but also demonstrated the absolute will to win the prestigious match. "After a derby win, you can put something like that away," said the HSV captain with a smile after the final whistle, as he had also scored the important equaliser in the 58th minute with his skull still intact at the time. "Bascho" led the way in the truest sense of the word in terms of his outstanding tackling rate (81.3%, by far the best), but his team-mates were in no way inferior to him in terms of willingness and passion. 58% of the duels were won by players with a diamond on their chest last night, an exceptional figure.
Resilience
A hard-fought draw in Dresden (14 January, 1:1), a 120-minute cup fight in Cologne (18 January, 1-1 AET, 4-3 Pens) and then an undeserved break deficit in the stadtderby: The omens for the 2nd half in friday's floodlit match could have been more favourable, but were taken ad absurdum by the Rothosen with courage, willingness and a large portion of passion. "I know that we are on a good path, because difficult games like in Dresden or Cologne make us better," Tim Walter had said in the press conference before the duel with the Brown and Whites - and he was right. His charges dominated the first half and the second 45 minutes on a fighting level. For the first time since Matchday 1 (3:1 after 0:1 in Gelsenkirchen), a 0:1 deficit was turned into a victory. After 23 competitive matches in the 2021/22 season, this leaves only two (!) defeats; the team's resilience and intransigence are accordingly not a short-term phenomenon, but a sustainable virtue.
Winning mentality
Sonny Kittel's two assists, Ludovit Reis' running-intensive game (12.2 kilometres covered) and Daniel Heuer Fernandes' strong performance between the posts once again: the success in the city derby has many faces, but was mainly achieved thanks to the team spirit. "We were determined to pull ourselves out of it as a team, and that's what we set out to do at half-time and put everything into it," said an overjoyed Jonas Meffert after the final whistle, who once again made an enormous contribution to the success with his mostly inconspicuous work on the "six". The "match winner" in the classic sense was, of course, Bakery Jatta, who scored the winning goal in the 70th minute with a "willpower performance" (Tim Walter) and thus became one of many derby heroes who all have one thing in common: A winner's mentality that must be maintained at all costs as the season progresses in order to successfully continue on the path that has been taken and so consistently pursued of late. The foundation for this: hard work. Even after the supposedly greatest victories.