For the second year in a row same thing happened to Hamburger, missed out on top 3 finish in the final round of the campaign! Up until the season was interrupted by the COVID-break in early March things looked to be going smoothly for Hecking’s men and they even looked in prime position to achieve direct promotion. The forced break unsettled things though and bad form since restart (W2 D4 L3) brought the painful failure.
Having big squad was the main strength of the team, but also the main weakness. Coach Hecking was reluctant to rotate and use broader group of players, which especially during the hectic schedule after the COVID-break proved the wrong approach.
Another major weakness was the defensive line, with Hamburger able to keep only 3 clean sheets in the final 24 rounds! All this made it much harder for the forwards to compensate and accumulate enough wins. At least it must be said that going forward things looked well. The contributions in attack were evenly split between 5-6 players throughout the campaign.
Coach Hecking can definitely be criticised for not rotating much in the final run in, which considering the crazy schedule backfired. Fatigue played major factor in Hamburger conceding decisive late goals in 4 of last 6 games.
After 2 identical failures it won’t be a surprise if Hamburger change managers again between seasons, with fresh ideas and possibly new signings in defence urgently needed.
