Long-running favorite before 150th game
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No Bundesliga club recorded more transfers this winter than Hamburger SV (all Bundesliga transfers at a glance). After seven additions and nine departures, the transfer balance on the Elbe was -5.1 million euros. Hamburg’s long-running favorite Miro Muheim spoke on the club’s own channels with a view to the newcomers to the Rothosen, who have not won in six games. The long-running favorite is facing a personal anniversary in the important duel with bottom team Heidenheim.
Muheim only missed 67 Bundesliga minutes this season and, excluding keeper Daniel Heuer-Fernandes, has the most playing time in coach Merlin Polzin’s team. Only 24 outfield players have accumulated more minutes in the league to date, although Hamburg’s game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, which was canceled on matchday 17, is still pending (statistics: the long-running favorites in the Bundesliga).
The fact that he personally managed the transition from the 2nd Bundesliga to the upper house depends “primarily on the team, the teammates and the coaches,” said Muheim. “With the help of all the players and intensive and long preparation, we have invested a lot and developed a good feeling for how we can perform in the Bundesliga. However, as a team and individually, there are still things that we want and need to work on. I don’t want to rest on our laurels, but rather ensure that things get even better and that we are even more successful as a team.”
Although there was great joy about the draw against the record champions from Munich, the traditional club, along with Werder Bremen and Heidenheim, is one of the weakest clubs in the league – no other team has waited longer for a three-pointer than this trio. Nevertheless, they have “really developed further” in the last few weeks, the 27-year-old attests in an interview on HSV.de. “Games like the last one against Bayern definitely give us a lot of energy for the tasks ahead.” For Muheim, the important relegation duel with Heidenheim is also an anniversary game: “150 is really a crazy number. I can’t believe that there are already 150 games. I’m very proud that I’ll soon have reached this number for HSV. When I moved back then, I of course decided to take the next steps, but the fact that I’m reaching this milestone in just under four and a half years is special.”
To ensure that Hamburg no longer slips to the bottom of the Bundesliga table, improvements were made to almost all parts of the team in the winter transfer window. The squad value was increased by almost 16 million to 146 million euros. “It’s certainly a lot,” said Muheim, referring to the new additions. “We already had the experience of a lot of arrivals and departures in the summer. This experience now makes the situation a little easier for us. However, there are still a lot of players from the structure of our team who are now helping to integrate the new players into the existing system. The coaching team and the analysis also do a top job in this regard: I think that the new players understand very quickly how we want to play football and what our idea is.”
Muheim himself wants to contribute to integration in the next few weeks as a leader: “I try to give them the feeling that they can feel comfortable with us. Be it in the dressing room, but also in their private lives. Integration is also about spending time together off the pitch, going out to eat together and talking a lot. In my opinion, it is extremely important to feel comfortable in a group in order to be able to perform.”
