First team

“The squad is balanced in terms of quality and quantity”

In Thursday's media session, our director of first-team football Claus Costa rated HSV's transfer window and explained the specific things you look out for in new players.

On Thursday, 7th September, the HSV first team trained for the final time before the international break. 50 spectators watched on, and Claus Costa was among them. Specifically, our director of first-team football was keeping an eye on the youth players who have been training with the senior team this week and also gathered an overall impression of the current squad.

“I’m not a fan of making sweeping conclusions, especially at such an early stage of the season,” said Costa in response to journalists asking about his assessment of the squad and the transfer window, which closed at the beginning of the month. “But I think that we can be very satisfied with the moves we’ve made. We were convinced by the players we wanted and we’re very pleased that the transfers themselves have gone smoothly.” He spoke very highly of the scouts for their involvement and the fact that everything had been “planned and carried out in a very organised and structured manner.” The start to the season, and the points tally, is testament to that. The most important thing for the former head scout? “We’ve heard very promising feedback from the team and the coaching staff about things being in good shape. The new boys have settled in really well and the players who were already at the club have given them a really warm welcome. You get the feeling that the players gel together just as well off the pitch as they do on it.”

In addition to the training sessions, it goes without saying that Costa is enjoying watching the Rothosen’s matches, which so far have been impressive. At the moment, they’re finding the balance between entertainment and results that head coach Tim Walter is looking for. Balance is also something that Costa extremely important for a squad. Dynamic youngsters and experienced pros, defensive resilience and attacking flair, team players and star talents – opposites certainly don’t have to cause friction. On the contrary, they can complement one another and result in perfect harmony. At the moment, the different components in the Rothosen’s ranks seem to fit together pretty well. “I think the squad is very balanced in terms of both quality and quantity. We’ve got a team that’s hungry for success with players who really want to improve individually and as a team.” They’ll be able to continue in this vein on Monday, as things get up and running again at the Volkspark after a long weekend off.