HSV outclassed by St. Pauli: 3 reasons for the bitter derby defeat! | OneFootball

After the 0:2 in the city derby, the first signs of frustration and insecurity are emerging in the HSV environment. But what actually went wrong in the game against the rival? There are three possible explanations.

The personnel selection of HSV

Head coach Merlin Polzin had two problems in the selection of his starting eleven in the first two games:

1. Not all the necessary new signings were there yet.

2. His top offensive players went into the season injured.

These are not things that arise from bad luck. With the new signings, it was agreed to act late rather than to sign players early on who are not 100% convincing.

This way of acting meant for Polzin and his coaching team, however, that they had to rely on players in roles that were not really suitable for them in the game against Gladbach and in the city derby.

It was very noticeable that Nicolai Remberg dropped back a lot to function as an additional passing station in the build-up. But this task is only partially suitable for the midfield sweeper. The problem: If Polzin leaves the more combination-strong Meffert on the bench, HSV lacks the necessary intensity against the ball.

Similarly, one might wonder whether the depth of Rayan Philippe could also help. But the same issue of missing profiles prevails: Emir Sahiti is currently preferred in the starting eleven because he can act as a connecting player with his ball security and his fast movements also between the lines. Because HSV had not signed an offensively thinking midfielder for a long time, Polzin was more or less forced to field Sahiti in order to get at least a minimum of ball security into the center. But this left the red shorts lacking depth in the last row. Ransford Königsdörffer could not compensate for this problem on his own.

And the 2nd point mentioned above cannot be denied either: In this case, of course, one can argue that teams should not be dependent on individual players. But in the recent past, especially promoted teams often relied on individual players showing their genius in decisive moments. But when Jean-Luc Dompé and Yussuf Poulsen, the two best offensive players, are sitting on the bench injured, it becomes extremely difficult to get equivalent quality.

Photo: Getty Images

Player profiles in their own build-up

Against FC St. Pauli, HSV repeatedly played with the combination of Daniel Elfadli as a central defender and Nicolai Remberg and Nicolas Capaldo in central midfield. What promises maximum intensity and physicality against the ball, however, becomes too unimaginative with the ball. Because: All three players primarily define themselves through their defensive work. Especially Elfadli and Remberg often showed that they have solid skills as ball carriers. But they are by no means pass-strong playmakers.

Therefore, it was somewhat incomprehensible that these two players in particular occupied the own center. HSV again operated with the rehearsed back three of center-backs, with Remberg playing just in front as a deep 6. The new signing moved so deep at times that he slipped into the last line next to Elfadli. This resulted in a flat back four. So it was no coincidence that they often had problems carrying the ball constructively into the opponent's half.

So the entire responsibility lay on Warmed Omari, who did his job again properly, and on Jordan Torunarigha, who apart from his slapstick slips, especially in the first half, showed very good approaches in ball progression. He repeatedly chose the courageous pass into the last chain, where the follow-up action completely fizzled out. This one-dimensionality in their own game ultimately made it too easy for the Kiezclub to only increase the pressure on HSV's build-up of play situationally. The problem: Too little movement, too little ball security, too little pass tempo.

Only the diamond - All news about HSV

Lack of speed on the pitch

HSV in particular lacked the necessary speed. This applies both with and without the ball. In addition, apart from Ransford Königsdörffer, players who chose the direct path into depth were in vain. With Alexander Røssing-Lelesiit and Giorgi Gocholeishvili, HSV would have had two more players for deep runs. But they were more busy getting into positions to receive a pass at all. Too often the balls were delayed and not shifted quickly enough.

As a result, Røssing-Lelesiit and Gocholeishvili were the two players with the fewest ball actions. The restriction: The Georgian deprived himself of the chance for further actions through his dismissal.

For HSV, it will be important in the coming months to get more speed on the pitch. More variations in the game are needed, which should work better with new signings and established synergies and automatisms over the course of the season.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.