The derby is back in Hamburg on Friday. It’s a given that almost everyone in the city has an opinion about whether they’re interested in football or not. There is speculation, hope, fear – even if it’s just whether the whole thing will at least go through peacefully.
And of course the history is always mentioned, the more distant one, with names of legends who, with the exception of Uwe Seeler, are more familiar to football historians. And the closer one. This speaks for FC St. Pauli: Since 2019, it has won six times, HSV has only won three times.
And last August, in the first first division duel since HSV’s relegation in 2011, the men from the district club had their big neighbors in their Volksparkstadion downright humiliated. The fact that in the end it was only 0-2 on the scoreboard was only due to St. Pauli’s poor conversion of chances. Against the hopelessly promoted HSV, FC St. Pauli, who had been promoted a year earlier, looked like an established Bundesliga team. At that time, quite a few people believed that the balance of power in the city had finally tipped over, and HSV was seen as a hot candidate for direct relegation.
What many had overlooked: St. Pauli had started as a well-rehearsed team that had only made a few changes and had been training together for weeks. HSV, on the other hand, was still in the midst of a total change, both tactically and personnel-wise. The possession-oriented offensive football from the second division era should give way to a more defensive approach against stronger first division teams. In some cases, the necessary personnel for this had not yet been hired. Sambi Lokonga and Fábio Vieira, for example, only came from Arsenal after the derby. Luka Vušković, on loan from Tottenham, now one of the best central defenders in the league, had only just arrived and was not yet ready to play. All three have now become key players.
Roles reversed compared to the first leg
Five months later, the picture is completely different than in the early phase of the season: St. Pauli’s winning streak was broken just two games later, followed by a Bundesliga record of ten defeats in a row; On the previous match day we even fell to the bottom of the table.
The prospects aren’t exactly rosy either: the interim stabilization with at least three games without defeat not only coincided with the return of someone who seemed to have already been written off: Captain Jackson Irvine had not been able to play for months due to a stress reaction in his foot and instead made headlines with expressions of solidarity for Palestine. From the club Accusations of anti-Semitism were raised.
The HSV fans have taken a political position in the Kuntz case, as one would expect from the ultras of FC St. Pauli
Suddenly there seemed to be no room for the Australian in the center of midfield, and there were even rumors of a change doing the rounds. But when coach Alexander Blessin rebuilt the system for his captain, things went better again – also because of the energy that he brings onto the pitch and inspires his teammates. Now the old injury has resurfaced and Irvine will be out for a long time again. Since then, St. Pauli hasn’t scored a point. But that would be practically mandatory against a potential relegation competitor like HSV.
St. Pauli is currently looking for a replacement for Irvine, but also needs to strengthen its attack after the long-term injury to striker Andréas Hountondji. Both together could overwhelm the club financially.
Kuntz affair shakes HSV
HSV, on the other hand, has stabilized economically and sportingly and is a power, especially in the local Volkspark. The young coach Merlin Polzin has formed an amazingly compact team that is ranked 14th in the table. Reason enough to appear confident at the Millerntor – actually. Wouldn’t the club be shaken by the affair surrounding the recently resigned sports director Stefan Kuntz, who was long considered one of the fathers of success.
HSV and Kuntz separated shortly before the turn of the year, allegedly amicably and for “personal and family” reasons. In the meantime she has Bild but find out what’s really behind it: standing against Kuntz serious accusations in the room. He is said to have behaved sexually aggressively towards employees. Kuntz denies what prompted HSV to make an unusually clear statement. The association then sought advice from specialist lawyers and assumes that the accounts of the affected employees are credible.
The fans obviously see it the same way. At the last home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach, they showed block-wide banners with the text “Whether block or boardroom: No place for attacks in our club – solidarity with all HSV employees affected!”. A clear positioning with a political twist that goes beyond the individual case, as is known from the Ultras of FC St. Pauli, but which is not a given at HSV. In this respect too, HSV has apparently caught up with its city rivals.