“We’ve got quality in the team, but quality teams also have to work hard”

On Friday evening (18:30 CEST) the Rothosen have the chance to bring about a change of mood, after having lost the last two league games. While over 50,000 fans will be cheering HSV on at the Volksparkstadion, it’s clear to everyone involved that the home fixture against the current league leaders will be anything but easy for Tim Walter’s side. The 47-year-old head coach spoke about how his team will approach this difficult task and who is available for the game at today’s press conference (Wednesday 27th September). 

Tim Walter touched on... 

...the current situation after the first two defeats of the season: Obviously, we are really disappointed that we’ve squandered our good start to the season and our lead in the table with these two defeats. We didn’t play to the best of our abilities in those games and we just weren’t thinking quickly enough, which we’ve gone over in depth. However, that doesn’t mean that I’ve distanced myself from the team. I stand 100 percent behind my players and have got full confidence in them, but that also doesn’t mean that I can’t criticise them. If anything, I’m the father of this team and I want to make us better – naturally, criticism is a part of that. Losing is a catastrophe and winning is unbelievably good – I’ve reiterated that to the team again. They’re all good lads, so they all want the team to do as well as possible. The boys are also able to take the criticism on board, which is really important for us to improve as a team and that’s why I’ve been really pleased with the reaction of the team in training this week. 

“We’ve got to act, not react”

...the home game against league leaders Fortuna Düsseldorf: We’ve got to go and act, not react. We need to stay switched on, regardless of what the opposition do. We’ve also got to start working more. We’re a very talented side, but hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard. That’s basically what we’ve been talking about this week and that’s what the game against Fortuna will come down to. Düsseldorf are a very strong team with a very good coach. They’re top of the table for a reason. They’ve got a good balance between attack and defence and are very solid on the whole. Fortuna were also contenders for promotion last season and they’ve improved again on an individual level and as a squad. We’ve got what it takes to beat them, though – we’ve just got to turn up. We’re capable of putting on a real show and we’re hoping to do exactly that on Friday. 

...the squad: Sebastian Schonlau definitely won’t be able to play against Fortuna or in next week’s game. It’s linked to a calf injury he sustained earlier in the season. It goes without saying that being without our captain is a tough pill to swallow. He’s a very important player for the team, not least because he’s very communicative. We have a few other players who can step up in terms of communication, though. We also managed to win games without him in the first few weeks of the season and we’ll be able to do the same again.