"A crisis, but only a small one"

hsv 4-0 FSV

Niko Bungert: “We’ve just had a constructive conversation in the locker room where the boss and some of the players had their say. I think it was important to have that conversation before some of the lads left for international duty. My own analysis of the game, is that HSV were just more prepared for the game today. We need to remember to do the simple things and do them right, be better in the duels, work hard and concentrate more on winning those second balls. These are the basics and they need to be done right – if they are not done right, it’s tricky to try and actually play football. Having just one win in six games can be considered a crisis, but only a small one – we’ve overcome bigger ones. It’s important that we are clear as a group on what the next steps are to get out of this.”

Danny da Costa: “The boss has given us his view of what went on out there today and made it clear that games like that need to be a one off. The first two shots went in today and Hamburg were really aggressive. We weren't surprised; we were simply too far away from their players and were punished for it. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make the most of our possession in the end."

Nadiem Amiri: “Unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough across every aspect of the game today. Hamburg could just stand on the halfway line and wait for a counter attack. Every mistake we made was punished and there were far too many gaps in our team. It’s been a bit of a problem for us this season; we’re too vulnerable on the counter attack and we aren’t strong enough in challenges or when going for second balls. We’re not in the best shape tactically right now. It’s about just clearing our minds right now; things won’t just automatically go back to how they were last season. We can’t dwell on this against Leverkusen; instead we need to focus on doing the things that make us strong.”