As of: February 21, 2024 5:05 p.m
The new coach Steffen Baumgart is supposed to lead second division soccer team HSV to promotion to the Bundesliga in the remaining twelve games. How well do the style, tactics and philosophy of the new coach fit in with the Hamburg squad? That’s what the data says.
“If anyone expects me to keep a clean sheet, I think anyone who has watched my games will rarely see them keep a clean sheet.” Sounds like Tim Walter? However, his successor as HSV coach said this during his presentation on Tuesday in response to the question about his playing style.
“But you will be able to create maybe three or four more chances to score,” added the Rostock native. The number of scoring opportunities – even the number of goals scored – is not currently Hamburg’s problem. With twelve goals in the 2024 calendar year, they have the second best offense behind Hannover 96.
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The difficulties exist at the other end of the field: Together with Fortuna Düsseldorf, HSV has the worst defense in the league in the second half of the season with eleven goals conceded. An average of 2.2 times the bell rang in the “Rothosen” box in the five games in January and February. Too much for a team that finally wants to achieve promotion to the Bundesliga in the sixth year.
Is Baumgart a Walter 2.0?
So is Baumgart a Walter 2.0? At least his statements raise the question of how the 52-year-old fits into the squad, playing style and also defensive behavior of the club. How did he once lift SC Paderborn into the Bundesliga and celebrate at least temporary success with 1. FC Cologne before an amicable separation came about last December after a disastrous first half of the season?
VIDEO: Steffen Baumgart is the new HSV coach (3 min)
After Walter’s expulsion, HSV sports director Jonas Boldt declared that he didn’t want to make a 180-degree turn. One of Baumgart’s greatest strengths is his ability to promote a strong team spirit and establish a positive mentality within his teams. The GSN data shows that he is a very good match for the Hanseatic League in this respect (88 percent agreement).
In terms of mentality, Baumgart fits in very well with HSV
This could be particularly valuable for HSV, who have strived for consistency and mental strength in recent years. Baumgart’s approach could help boost the team’s confidence and determination, which can be crucial in critical moments.
Baumgart comes to the Hanseatic city with experience from the Bundesliga and 2nd league. His GSN Trainer Index is almost 71. He is on the threshold of being a good Bundesliga coach and becoming an international class coach. According to the data, a return to the lower house does not pose any difficulty due to his knowledge of the league’s specific requirements. On the contrary: his ability to motivate teams to fight for promotion and to prepare them tactically for opponents can be valuable for HSV.
The GSN index for trainers is made up of different factors. Have relevance:
the strength of your own team in relation to the strength of the league – points scored are factored. player development – do players develop further under a certain coach, do they stagnate or even become worse? tactical flexibility – does a coach manage to tactically change his team depending on the situation in order to be successful? statistical values of the team – also tactically and technically . Rating scale:
85 – 100: World-class coaches like Klopp, Guardiola or Flick 70 – 85: Coaches who have the skills to coach a national team or a club that plays internationally (within the top five leagues) 60 – 70: Bundesliga coach…
The new coach stands for fast, vertical play
The data also shows that Baumgart’s offensive approaches can fit Hamburg very well. In this facet of the game, the 52-year-old’s ideas and the requirements of the North Germans overlap by almost 83 percent.
With his preference for a quick, vertical game, he could help improve the effectiveness of line-crossing passes. In this respect, the third place in the table is currently last in the league comparison.
Baumgart’s focus on counter-pressing aims to win the ball back quickly after a loss. Here too, the promotion aspirant is currently bottom of the league. His approach to winning the ball in the opposition half could improve this significantly.
High physical and mental discipline required
However, this intensive pressing also requires a high level of tactical, physical and mental discipline from the entire team, especially the attackers. Because their integration into defensive work is a key element of his approach. This would strengthen HSV in the first line of defense, but it also places high demands on the strikers, who have to do a lot offensively and defensively. Overloading the attackers could affect their effectiveness in the game going forward.
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And for the team as a whole, if there is a lack of coordination or fitness, this could lead to gaps in the defense – especially against teams that can switch quickly. Especially since defensive positional play was one of the weak points in Baumgart’s system in both Paderborn and Cologne. One reason why, according to the data, he only fits HSV around 65 percent in terms of defensive approach.
Baumgart’s general focus on offense and pressing could mean that special defensive training and individual instructions are necessary to address these weak points and improve coordination and communication in the defensive behavior of the entire team. With the distance between each other, he directly addressed at least one of the problems during his presentation on Tuesday.
What formation does Baumgart play with?
Baumgart played a lot in 4-4-2 (Paderborn) and 4-2-3-1 (Cologne). It will be exciting to see whether he sticks with HSV’s offensive 4-3-3, which was set up under his predecessor Walter. He didn’t use this formation at all in Cologne and only rarely in Paderborn.
But even more exciting will be how he develops defensive discipline. Because teams that are good at counterattacks and outplay the first series of presses could – if Baumgart and his new team make no adjustments – take advantage of HSV’s offensive ambitions and further increase the already high number of goals conceded. With SV Elversberg, a team is coming to the Volkspark on Sunday (1.30 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter) that has mastered exactly that.
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Sports current | 02/25/2024 | 4:17 p.m