HSV wonderkid's first start: 65 minutes that leave you wanting more | OneFootball

In the 3–2 win over SC Freiburg, Otto Stange was in the Bundesliga starting lineup for the first time. The 65 minutes before he was substituted made it clear why those in charge at HSV think so highly of him.

At first glance, the raw numbers from his performance look fairly mixed. Stange won only three of his ten ground duels, had just four touches in the opposition penalty area and gave the ball away four times. It was also evident in some situations that he still lacks experience at Bundesliga level. At times, the forward needed a split second too long to make decisions.

And yet the teenager still left a strong overall impression. Stange was extremely active, kept dropping deep and often drifted out to the left wing to make himself available. One such move also led to the opening goal: Freiburg only half-cleared his cross, and Bakery Jatta tapped in from Albert Grønbaek’s assist. Stange himself also kept getting into dangerous areas. His expected goals value of 0.43 shows that he clearly has a feel for good shooting positions.

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HSV: Stange sets himself an ambitious goal target

The youngster also gave a self-critical assessment of his performance afterward: “I’m happy with my performance, even if I’m still lacking experience in one or two situations. But I learn quickly too.” He was particularly annoyed about the big chance he missed shortly after halftime. “Maybe I can put that one away — that’ll be the goal next time.”

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Stange has also set his sights on another target. “I want to score more goals than Luka next season,” he said confidently. To do that, he would need to score at least seven times. A look at his development over the past few months shows that such an aim is ambitious, but by no means unrealistic. After all, following his loan spell at Elversberg, which was cut short in the winter, he has already picked up more playing time in Hamburg than he did in the entire first half of the 2. Bundesliga season.

Could Stange still be sent out on loan again in the summer to guarantee regular starts? “You never know in football,” he explained. “But this is the nicest place to be. Hamburg is my club.”

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