“If you win the derby, you’re a hero”

On Wednesday, 1st May, HSV’s head coach spoke to the journalists about the upcoming derby clash against FC St. Pauli. The Rothosen will have to put in a top performance at the Volksparkstadion on Friday if they are to emerge victorious and pick up a vital three points towards their quest for promotion. In the pre-game press conference, the 52-year-old revealed his thoughts on the approaching meeting with St. Pauli, which will be his first on the job, and provided an insight into how his team are looking ahead of derby day. Steffen Baumgart on...

...the squad: Laszlo Benes is continuing to work on his rehabilitation programme and won’t be involved on Friday. Jonas Meffert completed an individual session indoors today, but will be back in team training as normal on Thursday. Other than that, everyone else is fit. I will let the boys know who will be in the squad on Friday, and won’t give away the starting XI just yet.

…his team’s current shape: I see my team in a positive light and I think we’re on the right track, because I’ve witnessed a clear improvement in performance levels in the last few weeks. We want to keep this rhythm and continue on this path with a good result. Fear has never been a good advisor and has no place in football. One thing we can never forget is that football is a game – it’s sport. You win some and you lose some – that’s how things go. It’s only at HSV that you even lose when you draw – that was new to me. However, I’ll tell my boys: Go out there and have fun, as there’s no bigger game!

“Friday night should be a great occasion for the whole city.”

...the importance of the game from a coach’s perspective: It’s a derby. It’s football. It literally gives everyone goosebumps. I can sometimes get carried away with the positives in games like this, but it’s exactly the same with the negatives too. We’ll of course be emotional on the bench too, because a derby is always special. If you win the derby, you’re a hero, but if you don’t, you’re an idiot. I’d rather be a hero than an idiot.

...what the game means: It’s not just a derby, it’s the Hamburg derby! We want to put in a good performance and give everything to win the game, because we have a clear aim: a victory in the derby and then climbing to third place. We still have a small chance of doing that in the last three games. We’re focusing on that and nothing else. Not the past and not what might happen outside of this game. We won’t pay too much attention to that, and will instead concentrate on the game and our excitement for it, making sure that we don't get distracted from the task at hand. Two of the best teams in the league and two teams from the same city are playing each other. What a promo for football in Hamburg! St. Pauli have a very good team and are putting in good performances with good results to follow, but we’re also on a very good trajectory. There’s no bigger game! Friday night should be a great occasion for the whole city. We can all play a part in that.