Chief critic Mario Basler: HSV face a relegation battle | OneFootball

Mario Basler and HSV will probably never come together in this lifetime. Just a few months ago, the enfant terrible of German football caused a stir with disparaging remarks about the Frauen-Bundesliga.

HSV then tried to convince Basler otherwise. “Instead of debating for ages, we’ll simply invite you,” the Hamburg women explained before their DFB-Pokal quarter-final against FC Bayern. Basler, however, declined and ultimately stayed away from the match.

Admittedly, this dispute is likely only playing a very minor role in Basler’s mind by now and is unlikely to have much influence on his opinion of HSV. Even so, the former Werder striker has once again found words that are unlikely to go down well with everyone around the Volksparkstadion.

That is because Basler views HSV’s second Bundesliga season after promotion with great skepticism. On the podcast “Basler ballert”, the 57-year-old said: “When I go through the squad, I have to say: I also believe HSV will have a difficult season ahead of them.”

Despite bleak prediction: Basler praises HSV coach Polzin

Basler does acknowledge the special conditions in Hamburg. The Rothosen have “great fans and a great stadium,” but from a sporting perspective he expects a season on a knife edge. His prediction is correspondingly drastic: HSV will likely be “fighting against relegation.”

Photo: Getty Images

The former Germany international cites the squad changes in the summer as the main reason. He sees the departures of Luka Vuskovic and Fábio Vieira in particular as major losses. Both players were key performers last season, which is why Basler describes them as “two brutal departures.”

And even though there is still hope of Vieira returning, the former Germany international’s conclusion is unmistakable: “I think HSV will have a problem this year and will be fighting relegation from the very first game.”

Even so, Basler still thinks highly of Merlin Polzin. The former Bundesliga professional has nothing but praise for the HSV coach: “He did a great job. He will certainly know what is coming HSV’s way in the second year.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.