"Settled in the league": Schuster reveals HSV’s biggest strength | OneFootball

For the first time in his still young coaching career, Julian Schuster will face HSV. The Freiburg coach had some clear words about the development of the opponent before the Bundesliga restart.

“I believe they have arrived in the league,” said Schuster, and, quite surprisingly, especially highlighted Hamburg’s style of play. “They are very versatile and very flexible with the ball.” That is exactly what makes it “difficult for opposing teams to get a grip defensively.”

An assessment that is surprising at first glance. After all, HSV, with only 16 goals scored so far, has the fourth-weakest offense in the league. The bare results also hardly suggest any dominance in play. A look at the deeper data at least hints at why Schuster still rates HSV so positively. With an xG value of 18.4 (according to fotmob.com), the Red Shorts are ranked 13th in the league. Even in the first half of the season, it was noticeable that the team often gets into good finishing positions, but so far has not used them consistently enough.

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The North Germans, on the other hand, present themselves much more stable in defense. 25 goals conceded means 10th place in the league comparison, a very respectable value for a promoted team. With only a few exceptions, such as the clear 0:5 against FC Bayern or the 1:4 at TSG Hoffenheim, HSV has mostly appeared defensively compact and organized.

Schuster also warned against being misled by Hamburg’s poor away record. Although HSV is still winless on the road, the Freiburg coach does not want to underestimate the guests at all. “It can be helpful to play in your own stadium,” he analyzed, but emphasized that this is “not the only explanation.”

Schuster also paid respect to his own team’s preparation. The decision to stay at home during the short winter break has paid off completely. “The conditions on site were very good,” he said. “Even though it was very cold, we had no problems implementing what was important to us.”

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