From ecstasy to panic: at HSV, emotions swing wildly | OneFootball

The ugly 0–5 defeat against Mainz is still hard for all HSV fans to stomach. The fierce reactions are understandable, but not always appropriate. A commentary.

Anyone who hasn’t only been following German football since yesterday knows how dynamic the mood around a big traditional club can be. Euphoric optimism and dark doom-and-gloom can sometimes alternate almost daily. HSV has now had to go through that painful experience as well. Truly not for the first time in its 139-year history.

Despite the 0–2 opening defeat in Dortmund, an entire city was buzzing with almost immeasurable anticipation for the first home game of the new season. The reason for this was, besides a decent second half against BVB, above all the outstanding late surge in the transfer market — at least nearly all observers agreed on that. It was crowned by the return of the prodigal son, Fabio Vieira.

Of course, everyone involved was aware that Mainz, who after all finished fifth in the second half of last season, would be no easy opponent. And yet the HSV fans expected nothing less than a win. Preferably a win with a convincing performance as well.

Photo: IMAGO

It took only 90 minutes to nip the optimism of recent days in the bud. If you browse through the comment sections on social media, you get the impression that HSV has suddenly turned into the Bundesliga’s number one problem case. Calls to put the planned and likely imminent contract extension for Merlin Polzin and his coaching staff back on ice alternate with claims that one player or another simply lacks the necessary level for top-flight football.

The mood around HSV: Suddenly everything is bad?

And of course, if you focus on the match against Mainz alone, it is hard to disagree. The Red Shorts looked in even more worrying shape than in the first home game of last season, when they were completely dominated in their own stadium by local rivals St. Pauli. The parallel: once again, HSV has made a terrible start, sitting 18th in the table after two matches with zero points and a 0–7 goal difference.

Even so, everything that was rightly praised in the recent past must not be forgotten after one afternoon: securing survival with confidence after promotion, the good work on the transfer market, the quite promising performances in pre-season, and the encouraging development of the many homegrown players.

Thinking in extremes is tempting and, especially in the emotionally charged atmosphere around the Volkspark, understandable. Still, as so often, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Because of one admittedly dreadful thrashing, HSV is not hopelessly lost or the number one relegation candidate. Just as little has the club secured itself a blank check for a carefree season through its triple coup on Deadline Day. Many people — including the author of this text — were probably too quick to think so.

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