"We want to play with courage and conviction, like a family"

Tim Walter on…

...his move to HSV: HSV are a club that are always right on the brink of taking off. I hope that we will be able to move in the right direction. Of course I discussed the pros and cons with my family. In the end, the pros outweigh the rest. I’m looking forward to this challenge. It was easy to say ‘yes.’ HSV put in a lot of effort and my discussions with the club were very positive, so I quickly agreed to their offer. 

...his philosophy: It’s true that I enjoy for my teams to have possession. However, the foundation for that rests on the defence. If we don’t have the ball, then we need to be aggressive and work hard to win it back. That’s even more important. That doesn’t really depend on the quality of the team, but rather on the willingness they have. I will need to get a good overview of the squad and want to wait until after our first training sessions before making any decisions about where we need to make adjustments or bring in new players.

…the squad: The club is all about working well with youth. I place great importance on developing young players and paying particularly close attention to them. But even older players who are prepared to develop will not be ignored. There are players in the squad who are more noticeable in attack than others. I would like to get to know them all personally first, however. The players will not be judged on how they have performed previously – their potential, their characteristics and their mentality will be the deciding factors. 

"That’s the type of person I am: I try to get the most out of the lads – push them and encourage them." 

…his personality: I am aware that I have a certain reputation. In my talks with Jonas and Michael it was about making humaneness an important aspect. The players want to be collected and brought forward. For this you need the lads to be ready and you need great unity and courage throughout the whole club. This is the type of person I am: I try to get the most out of the lads, push them and encourage them. 

…next season in the second division: It’s a nice league with some nice match-ups. We need to start with us though in order to reach our targets in the end. It’s important for us to stay focused on ourselves. What can we do better, where do we want to improve? I’m here to help us answer these questions. This is no time to formulate targets. First I want to get to know how things work here. One thing is clear: Anyone who wants to make progress always has targets. Because if you have no targets, you will make no progress. Everyone who knows me knows I have targets. 

…his biggest challenge at HSV: I’m only just getting to know the club and you have to really know a club inside out before identifying the problems and the tasks you will need to complete. As a team, it is clear what we expect: We want to play with courage and conviction, like a family. That applies to the entire club. We need to stick together like a family in the face of all external adversity.