Training Camp

Tim Walter: “It’s all about making things even better”

HSV head coach Tim Walter spoke to the media about the training camp in Sotogrande, improvements in his team’s game and goose bumps at the Volksparkstadion.

HSV head coach Tim Walter has been in his element over the past few days as he has been working to prepare his team for the second half of the season. The desire and hungriness for improvement and optimisation of his side’s game has impressed him and his coaching staff in all areas of HSV’s training camp in Sotogrande. The players have also embraced the mindset of giving their best every day and wanting to improve, and this has been noticeable in terms of the hard graft they have had to put in during all the sessions on the pitch, as well as in the gym and the pool area at the hotel. And they have been exemplary so far, very much to the delight of Walter, who took the time to speak to the journalists present for around an hour amongst all of the work with the team at Monday lunchtime.

The boss spoke in detail on...

...the training camp: It’s evident in the training sessions that the boys are very motivated. Due to the lengthy break, the outstanding conditions here and the general spirit within the team, everyone is intent on doing even more and putting in the hard yards. We were able to recharge our batteries and you can feel that here. There’s a good atmosphere and above all lots of enjoyment in our work. The incentive to get better is there. For us, it’s all about making things even better. We want to work even harder and the boys are fully committed. Therefore, I’m very pleased.

...improving the team’s own game: We need to be even more consistent when defending our box. There is also further room for improvement in terms of our decisiveness going forwards. For example, we already performing very well in terms of our expected goals on the counter, but we’re still not making the most of our chances. Set-piece situations also play a role. On this front, we’re very good at defending in these situations, but there’s still room for improvement from attacking set-pieces. The bottom line is that we’re already doing a lot of things very well, but we always want to get even better. That’s our aspiration.

...on his own personality: Only those who are scared of something feel fear. And I’m never scared of myself. I always feel confident. We generally talk a lot with the people in charge of the sporting side, and did so extensively after the first half of the season, which is important to do as we want to keep improving as mentioned. That’s the most vital point: we want to do things better, but not start completely from scratch.

...dealing with mistakes: We have to work on limiting individual errors, even if they can’t be completely eliminated. People make mistakes, it happens. The key to success comes down to the management handling these mistakes. I’m convinced that they will occur less frequently when the boys learn to deal with them better. That’s a huge factor that we want to work on in order to achieve our main target.

...the returns of Ludovit Reis and Sebastian Schonlau: It’s about being careful not to expect too much of ‘Ludo’. A player needs approximately the same amount of time that he’s out for to come back again. We’ve seen with ‘Bascho’ that’s it difficult to fully reach the highest level of performance when you’re not at 100 percent. Then it’s possible that you’ll get injured again. It’s my and our duty to be mindful of that, but it’s also the players’ responsibility not to overextend themselves.

...the remaining games at the Volkspark this season: I get chills every time I walk out in this stadium. I get goose bumps just when I think about how much people love this club and give them unconditional support. It’s always a wonderful experience to be able to play in these surroundings. We’re trying to give our fans something back. That’s our job. And of course we also want to reward ourselves.