Blunder before conceding: HSV defender blames a "communication problem" | OneFootball

From HSV's perspective, the 1:4 defeat at TSG Hoffenheim was apparent early on. The visitors fell behind as early as the 8th minute.

It was a goal conceded that resulted from a series of small mistakes and was thoroughly analyzed after the match. Left-back Miro Muheim openly spoke of a "communication problem" in the defense.

The starting point of the scene was overly passive defending on the wing. Hoffenheim's Wouter Burger was not consistently put under pressure on the sideline and was able to cross the ball unchallenged. The cross curled with a lot of spin into the penalty area, where Grischa Prömel managed to slip away from the defense and found himself completely unmarked for a header.

The decisive factor was that several HSV players were focused on other opponents. Center-back Jordan Torunarigha was marking Tim Lemperle at the near post, while Muheim initially had his eye on right-back Vladimir Coufal.

"I should have stayed a bit closer to Coufal, because he always makes runs into the box during crosses," Muheim explained. In reality, however, the Czech posed no immediate threat in this situation. Prömel remained unmarked and headed the ball in. "I thought Jordan would take him and Luka would take the one in front," Muheim said in retrospect. A misjudgment with consequences.

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HSV insight: "We weren't aggressive enough"

Coach Merlin Polzin was also frustrated by the early deficit. "The first goal we conceded came too early and too easily," he noted. After all, HSV had actually planned to defend compactly and create chances through transitions. This plan was more or less rendered obsolete by the early 0:1.

On top of that, the defensive line looked anything but good on the other goals conceded as well. For the 0:2, TSG center-back Ozan Kabak was able to turn far too easily, and before the 0:3, Coufal was once again allowed to cross unchallenged. "We weren't aggressive enough in the duels, even in the deep block," Muheim admitted in self-criticism.

At the end of this series of mistakes stood a clear 1:4 defeat. Against a strong Hoffenheim side, HSV did not defend consistently enough over the full 90 minutes and handed their goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes a miserable day at work.

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