“We want to control the game and be attacking”

Following the completion of the recent international break, Hamburger SV are back in league action on Saturday evening against FC Schalke 04 for a matchday 13 clash (20:30 CET). Head coach Steffen Baumgart has been intensively preparing his team for the game for the last two weeks. The 52-year-old spoke at today’s press conference in detail about…

…the squad: Everyone is already aware of Robert Glatzel and Ludovit Reis’ injuries. Valon Zumberi is slowly working his way back to training. Jonas Meffert injured his arm yesterday and he had an MRI in the evening. He’s got capsular and ligament damage but was back in training again today. We’ll have to see what his availability is like. Things went well today, though he didn’t have to make any tackles. We’re optimistic that he can play and start the game on Saturday.

…his expectations for Saturday’s game: Anyone who has watched Schalke’s recent games will know that their squad is better than their position in the table suggests. Their team has had similar problems to us in that they haven’t won games that they could have. They’ve not really had much luck so far and I hope that continues against us. I think it will be a really interesting game. We want to control the match, create chances and attack. This fixture between these two teams on a Saturday night under the floodlights is the kind of the game that has to motivate everyone. It’s the kind of match that I’d go to watch in the stadium as a fan. I’m expecting all 22 players on the pitch to feel the same too. 

"I love seeing footballers with big shining eyes on the training ground like him"  

…the current situation: There is always pressure in our line of work, it’s the same for both clubs and that’s part of the job. You have to face the reality of the situation and I’m trying to deal with it in my own way. I hope everyone can see that I’ve got enough energy and I’m clear about what I want. It’s not like our ideas are completely wrong, but we haven’t got the results we’ve wanted recently and that’s partly down to our own mistakes. We’re definitely capable of getting back to the form we had before this recent dry spell and that has to be our aim. We need clarity. Hard work, the right mentality and covering lots of ground are the most important things. That’s how you get yourselves out of a bad position. 

…Otto Stange’s role: We’ve got a clear rule with academy players that we want to integrate into the first team. We’ve said that we want to get them involved in our busiest days as often as possible. Otto is currently with the first team, so he’s got a really good chance of being in the squad and getting more minutes. He was one of the brightest players in the friendly, even if men’s football can prove a bit much occasionally over the course of a full 90 minutes. I love seeing footballers with big shining eyes on the training ground like him. I have to put the brakes on him more than I need to motivate him. It’s great fun working with him.