Baumgart: “That’s the only thing that counts in the cup”

Hamburger SV find themselves in the midst of a double game week, as they prepare to travel to face Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in the second round of the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday (30th October, 18:00 CET). The Rothosen suffered a painful 4-2 defeat away at SV Elversberg last Saturday, and are now looking to get back to winning ways. The double game week will end with a home game against 1. FC Nürnberg on Sunday. Head coach Steffen Baumgart spoke to the media on Monday (28th October) about the busy week ahead, touching on… 

…the analysis of the Elversberg game: We have completed our analysis of what happened on Sunday. We spoke about the game and about what we weren’t satisfied with. We’re always very open and honest with each other when it comes to this. There was a lot that wasn’t satisfactory and we all know it, especially in the second half. We need to be more solid and direct, despite it being natural to make mistakes. We aren’t machines, no matter how much we wish it were possible to always record positive results. We let it weigh on our minds for 24 hours, which is enough. After all, our next challenge already awaits with our cup game in Freiburg

…the cup game in Freiburg: I love the DFB-Pokal. It’s a great competition that’s a lot of fun in all its facets and that has just one aim: We’re heading there to try to reach the next round. That’s the only thing that counts in the cup — everything else is unimportant. I’m looking forward to being back in Freiburg. They have a great new stadium and a team that’s still playing good football even after the change in coach. It will be a big challenge for us, but these are exactly the kind of games we look forward to and that we want to be involved in going forward.

"We will make a few changes."

…the upcoming opponent: Freiburg have put in a strong start to the season so far. As a club, they are a great example of what consistency, long-term planning and excellent goal-setting can achieve. Their head coach has been at the club since 2008. It’s a real family setting, so to say, as the club have demonstrated each and every year. It’s always fun to be there and to observe the club and their development. In my opinion, SC Freiburg are one of the best teams in Germany.

…the personnel: Sebastian Schonlau and Jonas Meffert will both play. I won’t do without them if they are both able to play, that’s no secret. We will only need to make a decision about who will replace them during our next league game against Nürnberg. Additionally, we will make a few changes — not in order to rotate, but rather because we owe it to the players given the depth in our squad. During a double game week, we also need to keep an eye on the lads and their physical condition. There are certain things that we’ve considered for this scenario and which we can imagine doing during the cup game on Wednesday.