press conference

"It’s important for us to start playing with stability and aggression again"

Two days before the Rothosen’s game away to Sandhausen, HSV head coach Daniel Thioune spoke at a press conference about injuries, Thursday’s opponents and the pros and cons of a long break in play.

It’s been exactly 13 days since Daniel Thioune was last on the podium for a press conference ahead of a HSV league fixture. On 7 April, the head coach spoke via a digital stream to the journalists about the home game against SV Darmstadt (lost 2-1 on 9 April). The following week, Thioune was set to talk ahead of HSV’s trip to SV Sandhausen (originally scheduled for 16 April), but the teams’ meeting at the Hardtwald ground was called off due to cases of coronavirus within the SVS squad. What would have been the following game against Karlsruher SC was set to take place tonight and was also called off due to several KSC players entering self-isolation with coronavirus. So the 46-year-old had a few more days off than usual from the press conferences he so regularly and professionally hosts. Extensive, yet straight-to-the-point answers have become part and parcel of Daniel Thioune’s talks with the media representatives, and that was no different today, with the rescheduled visit in Sandhausen two days away (Thursday 22 April, 20:30 CEST).

Daniel Thioune spoke in detail on…

… squad news: We’ve had to make do without Jeremy Dudziak in the last few days after he caught a sty. His eye was infected and swollen so he had to train individually. Today he involved in parts of team training again, though, so there’s nothing to suggest he won’t be available on Thursday. This would mean a full house internally ahead of our trip to Sandhausen.

…Thursday night’s opposition: First and foremost, I hope all those infected with coronavirus at Sandhausen have recovered well. We don’t yet know exactly who will and won’t be available on Thursday. But it will certainly be a disadvantage for them having all been in quarantine for two weeks. For this reason, a surprise awaits us – they’d been playing with great stability beforehand, despite mixed results. Due to the short time they’ve had to prepare, their game will surely rely more on commitment and effort than tactic. Add to that the fact that they need points to stay in the division. They will certainly be putting up a huge fight against us, from the first whistle until the last.

""Sandhausen will put up a huge fight against us, from the first whistle until the last""

…HSV’s break from football: Our fixture schedule has changed and everything has been pushed back. One advantage is that we’ve been able to work more on some key aspects of our game, especially off-ball situations. It is important for us to play with stability and aggression again – we need to take on the fifty-fifty challenges. We also fine-tuned our finishing. A disadvantage is that we weren’t able to put the Darmstadt defeat behind us quickly with a positive result. Now we’ve got three games in the space of eight days and we’ll take that.