Hannover 96 Vs Augsburg (Game Day 16)

3 Points for Christmas

Looking at this fixture back in August when the fixtures were announced, this would seem like a guaranteed 3 points for Hannover but with Augsburg flying high in 3rd prior to kick off, a home win was far from a certainty. The rate at which Hannover was leaking goals was worrying, 3+ goals in each of their last 4 games. However they have been scoring goals of late, Joselu seems to have found the direction to goal again and with Stindl back and contributing goals and assists. I was quietly confident that the HDI arena would once again be a formidable place to come to.

The big news in the build up to the game was about Salif Sane, would he be starting the game? The last home match against Wolfsburg he was on the bench but didn’t come on. The next match against Werder Bremen he played the last 15 minutes. The teams were announced and Sane who  was recently recalled from first team exile was back in the starting line up. Would this be good? Would this be bad? only time will tell but something needs to be done to firm up the defense and this is a possible solution that Korkut thinks might work.

Heading down to the stadium, I need to walk past the away fans entrance. Normally this is an area full of police, away fans, bottle collectors and the away fan merchandising van. This time, it was eerily quiet. There was 1 fan standing in front of a line of stewards being patted down at the security check, only ONE fan! Even my normal entrance, which is normally a hive of activity, was quiet. Even though it was a Tuesday game kicking off at 20:00, this is the last Bundesliga game in the HDI arena until February…yes February! I thought that the match would have sold out or at least been over the 40,000 mark.

Entering the stadium there were empty seats everywhere in the west, south and east stands. The north stand (lower) was, as expected, full. Sometime I get frustrated with the fickle nature of “fans”. Hannovers song “Alte Leibe” which is sung before every home match has a line in it…”wir sind dabei, egal obs regnet oder schneit nicht nur an guten Tagen, wenn die Sonne scheint” roughly translated as “We are always here, doesn’t matter if it is raining or snowing, not only on the good days when the sun is shining” Yes, Hannover is going through a bit of tough patch at the moment, but that is football. Support your team and get behind them. Yes, Tuesday games at 20:00 are sometimes difficult to travel to and get home at a reasonable time for work the following day but to have 20,000 empty seats in a Bundesliga stadium is unacceptable.

Now the time came for the players to be announced to the crowd and I was listening out for the reception that Salif Sane would get. When Sane’s name was read out it, it was greeted with the same cheering that every other name was. However, normally a picture of the player is displayed on the big screen but there was no picture of Sane and just a large 96 logo instead! I am sure that they will get this sorted out before the next home game….in February! Then came the singing of “Alte Liebe”. The song is always sung by the same two people, Osssy Pfeiffer and Dete Kuhlmann. However, this time it was not featuring a backing track, instead it was acoustically sung with a live guitarist standing beside them. It really added to the atmosphere, I hope this is something that they will keep.

As the match kicked Hannover had the better of the opening exchanges with getting more and more joy down either wing. A few dangerous crosses were put in and there were a few quick corners in a row. The singing and jumping around from the lower tier of the north stand was constant but not exactly deafening but it was a joy to watch so many people in unison bouncing up and down and enjoying themselves.

The strong opening from Hannover was nearly undone by a lapse in concentration from Kiyotake who gets the ball stolen from underneath him and it goes straight to a Augsburg player and only a fine save from Zieler denies Augsburg an undeserved lead. The resulting corner then almost produced a wonder goal the corner was headed out and long range effort from Paul Verhaegh was only matched by a fine diving save to Zieler’s left.

Hannover’s game plan must have been to exploit the wings as this was a tactic that Hannover did extremely well under Mirko Slomka and this team was now starting to play like the team that qualified for the Europa league twice in a row. Miiko Albornoz and Hiroki Sakai were pushing forward and making decent runs and starting to play more like wing backs. On the 20 minute mark, Albornoz did outstanding work to shepard the ball out for a corner kick under pressure from the Augsburg defenders. The resulting corner was swung in by Kiyotake and Lars Stindl rises highest and connects with corner. The ball continues and all of a sudden the ball is in the net and off in the middle of the celebration is….Salif Sane. Despite that goal being about 20 metres away from me I had no idea what just happened. It was only at half time that I saw a replay in the stadium and it was flicked on by Stindl and it hit the back of Sane’s head and was deflected into the back of the net. They all count, whether it a Roberto Carlos physics defying free kick or a deflection off the back of your head. 1 nil Hannover.

The west stand and specifically the north west section was now starting to really get involved and joining in with the singing and chants with the north stand. Chanting Salif Sane’s name which only a month ago would have not been a very likely chant to hear in the stadium. The passion was there from the players, this was evident from a perceived high boot from Marcelo on 32 mins. It looked like Marcelo lifted his leg to waist height and the Augsburg player dropped his head down to waist height. There didn’t seem to be much contact but down the player goes in apparent agony. Stindl complains strongly to the referee to which he is casually dismissed by the referee. Stindl then walks away livid with the decision and the fans make their voices known that they also disagree with the decision.

Through out the first half there has been a small section of the crowd with some very negative chanting. Now it is only a minority and as soon as the chanting starts it is instantly booed by the majority of the home fans. The chant is the “Kind muss weg” meaning “Kind (Hannover President) must go”. This was last heard at the end of last season after a legal battle between the Ultras and the Hannover 96 management that resulted in the Ultras now boycotting the first team games. (simplified version)

At half time, Hannover are looking good for their 1 nil lead, Zieler and the defence have been strong and kept Augsburg to nil which based on the previous 4 games is an immense improvement. Maybe Sane is the answer??

The second half started much as the first half ended, the cheering and chanting was getting louder and starting to involve more of the stadium but also the “Kind muss weg” chanting was starting to occur more and more often. Each time it was met instantly with a chorus of boos from the majority of the stadium. Then on 55 mins a rather soft penalty was given to Hannover, Stindl looked second favourite to a ball and just got his leg in front of the defender and went to ground. The referee, Christian Dingert, pointed to the spot much to the protests of nearly the complete Augsburg team. It is the type of tackle that if it is made 100 times in the box, you will only get a penalty 3 or 4 times. As a Hannover fan, I am not complaing but if I am honest. It was not a penalty.

Up steps Joselu for the first home penalty this season in the HDI arena and after what seemed like an eternity to place the ball and wait for everything to be ready, he calmly slotted the penalty away to the bottom right out of the reach of Alex Manninger in the Augsburg goal. 2 nil Hannover but still alot of football still to play.

As the second half progressed, the 30,800 spectators (capacity 49,000) started to raise the volume and more and more chants were emanating from the North stand that were filtering through the whole stadium. Hannover had a disallowed goal for offside, I have since seen this on the TV and it was VERY VERY close and it was probably the wrong decision, maybe that evens out the soft penalty that was awarded earlier.

The disallowed goal for Hannover actually seemed to give Augsburg a new momentum and really started attacking the Hannover goal but Zieler is in fine form and with time starting to run out it is looking unlikely that he will be beaten today. An incident on 74 mins where Zieler makes a save but the ball spills to his left and he is waiting until the last moment to collect ball and gets clattered by an Augsburg player, this is perfect for Hannover as no real damage done to Zieler and Hannover complaints to the referee waste a few more seconds.

The last 10 mins of the game turned into a bit of a carol singing moment with the score being 2 nil and Hannovers defence including Sane and Zieler playing very well, the fans knew 3 points were safe and starting singing a very melodic but slow Christmas carol type of song. Even though I could not make out what they were singing it was a beautiful way to end the first half of the 2014/15 bundesliga season in the HDI arena.

The next game is an away game against Freiburg on the 21st December. This is the final game of the first half of the season and the start of the winter break. The opening game of the second half of the season is against Schalke 04 on the 31st January and the next visitors to HDI arena are Mainz 05 on Tuesday 3rd February at 20:00. English week is back and I hope for a better attendance for that game.

Frohes Neues und Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 2 – 0 Augsburg

1-0 Salif Sane 20 mins,  2-0 Joselu 55 mins

Hannover 96 Vs Wolfsburg (Game Day 14)

A Good Offence Starts with a Good Defence

With temperatures around freezing in Hannover, the Christmas Market, which started last weekend is certainly a welcome additional to the hoards of cold football fans making their way down to the stadium. The usual pre-match beer will have probably been replaced with a pre-match Glühwein. Hannover’s last out league game was an entertaining game but unfortunately Hannover were on the wrong side of a 7 goal thriller in Hoffenheim. Looking at some of the goals conceded over the last two games questions should start be asked of the defensive. Maybe this is why manager Tayfun Korkut has recalled the exiled Salif Sane from the U23’s. However there was no starting place but he now has to wait his turn from the bench, but at least he is back in contention. Will Sane be the answer to the defensive problems of late? I am not sure but only time will tell.

Last match in Hoffenheim, Lars Stindl seemed to find his match-fitness again and contributed 2 goals  in the 4-3 defeat and while the visitors to the HDI arena were Wolfsburg, another Niedersachsen derby, are flying high this season and sitting in 2nd place there was a bit of confidence that Lars and the rest of the boys to get one over our local rivals. If we can eliminate the defensive mistakes seen against Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim, this game is there for the taking.

Close to kick off and once again, one thing is apparent. The stadium is not full again. Lars Stindl commented that “Those who don’t realise that the atmosphere without the Ultra’s is suffering, is not being honest with themselves” (original German interview with “Bild” here). While I have talked about the lack of Ultras, the atmosphere has been more subdued this season, with large sections of quiet and certain times it has been only the away fans making he noise. It is maybe the lack of the atmosphere of old that is keeping fans away… or maybe it is just the cold.

Shortly before kick off, the Wolfsburg fan unveiled a large flag, under which a number of fans started to light flares. In the cold air, smoke filled the south-west corner of the stadium and as the players were entering the field the smoke was slowly making its way over the pitch. This was greeted by a lot of jeering by the home fans. The smoke cleared just prior to kick off and for the second game in the row Hannover started fast and strong, there was singing and chanting by the North Stand, the coldness of the Hannover afternoon was soon forgotten and the cheering and chanted started. On 2 mins a great opportunity for Joselu to take an early lead but it goes out for a corner. Lars Stindl comes over to get the ball and as he throws the ball to the corner flag, he turns to the fans in the south stand and waves his arms to get the crowd going. Few quick corners in succession and the crowd were responding to Stindl, then, disaster. A high ball goes up and 3 Hannover players go for the same ball and only clear it as far as Ivan Perisic who played a great ball to Kevin De Bruyne and ran unmarked into the penalty box to calmly slot past Zieler. 1 nil to Wolfsburg and only 4 mins on the clock.

This early goal really blew the life of the home fans, it is times like this when we need the ultras, those fans that chant and sing constantly throughout the game. For the next 15 mins Hannover looked like the better team but just lacked that final ball. Joselu had another opportunity on 18 mins but with minimal pressure on him the ball went high and wide. A free kick from Kiyotake after Stindl was brought down on the edge of the area was saved at the second attempt after the ball was fumbled and nearly bundled in. Another free kick from Gulselam was straight down the throat of Diego Benaglio. Numerous corners from Hannover were really putting the pressure on the Wolfsburg defense but they were holding strong. In the final 5 minutes of the first half, the home fans starting chanting again, “Ole… Ole… sechsundneunzig Ole” was ringing out around the stadium, that early goal had silenced the home fans for a large period of the game but now they were starting to find their voice again. Then, on the stroke of Half Time, the equalising goal went in. A series of corners and one of the crosses found Jimmy Briand on the left who crossed to Joselu who headed the ball home from 2 yards. There was barely time to take the kick off again before the referees whistle blew for half time.

On the balance of play, Hannover seemed to dominate possession, shots on goal, corners and just about every stat I could think of, Hannover were on top. They talk about the psychological boost that a goal right on half time is for a team, but this time from the atmosphere point of view it had little effect on the game. Yes, immediately after the goal the place was hopping and normally the crowd is buzzing after a home goal in the stadium for the next 10 mins or so and the players feed off this extra energy, but this time, those next 10 mins were enjoyed with a Bratwurst in hand talking amongst friends and the players sitting in the changing room getting the half time team talk.

The second kicked off and the electric buzz had calmed down since the goal, but the fans were making their presence known and again Hannover started strongly, more corners, more chances, more pressure but no final result. By the time the 60th minute was showing on the clock the match started to turn quite stale and it turned into a passing match with no real opportunities for either side. Wolfsburg then made a match winning substitution, Ivica Olic was replaced by Bas Dost and nearly with his first touch on 69 mins he scored to put Wolfburg back in front. Once again a defensive mistake left him wide open and he was picked out perfectly by Ivan Perisic for his second assist of the day. Zieler was left, once again, with no chance of saving that one and he is picking the ball out of the net for the 9th time in just over 200 minutes of football. The home fans are once again quiet.

Over the next few minutes Hannover tied to fight their way back into the game, Marcelo lunged in and flattened a his opponent and was rightly given a yellow card, then 5 mins later, with 74 minutes on the clock, Marcelo once again lunged in recklessly. The referee runs over to give the free kick and the whole stadium held its breath expecting a second yellow card. If the referee had given Marcelo a second yellow there would be no complaints. Thankfully he kept his cards in his pocket and Hannover remain with 11 men on the pitch. A tactical switch of bringing off a defensive midfielder in Gulselam and replacing him with a striker in Artur Sobiech was now Tayfun Korkut’s idea to push for that equalising goal.

Hannover were going for it, at least they were trying to push forward, there was sporadic cheering, singing and chanting “Hannover….Hannover” from the North Stand and then the West and South would return the chant. Pushing forward, left holes at the back and then with 85 minutes gone, the final nail in the coffin. Hannover had a free kick, and pushed players forward, the goalkeeper collected the ball and some quick distribution from Benaglio put Wolfsburg on the counter attack, a 3 on 2 situation arose and Ivan Perisic for the third time today set up Wolfsburgs second substitute, Maximilian Arnold to finish past a helpless Zieler.

The home fans had no seen enough and there was a mass exodus from all stands heading towards the exits. The Wolfsburg fans noticing this, started their singing of “Auf Wiedersehen!”

Final whistle. It is amazing how quickly things can change, the pre-match build up before the last home game against Bayer Leverkusen was about “Can Hannover keep a club record 4th clean sheet in a row?” and since then they have conceded 10 goals. This is hardly Europa league form and with the Christmas break coming up soon and the opening of the transfer window, the management should be looking at strengthening some key areas in order to make that final push of a Europa league spot. It would be so good to have Europa League football back in Hannover next season.

The next game is another derby away game against Werder Bremen and the next visitors to HDI arena are Augsberg on Tuesday 16th December at 20:00. English week is back.  Augsberg currently sit 3rd in the table so it will not be an easy game but then again no game at this level is.

Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 1 – 3 Wolfsburg

0-1  Kevin De Bruyne 4 mins, 1-1 Joselu 45 mins, 1-2 Bas Dost 69 mins, 1-3 Maximilian Arnold 85 min

Hannover 96 Vs Bayer Leverkusen (Game Day 12)

Return of the “Captain Fantastic”

A bit of delay of getting round to this post but I still have all my recorded notes taken during the match.

The winter chill is starting to come down in Hannover and warm jackets and scarves were the order of the day. It seemed to a bit quieter heading down to the stadium today, with not as much fans around the place, this could be due to the cold weather or that we were playing one the “big boys” of German football, Bayer Leverkusen. The so-called “big teams” have come here before and Hannover have prevailed, so with optimism, I was really looking forward to this game.

With Zieler coming off the back of an international clean sheet against Spain, making his 150th consecutive appearance for Hannover in all competitions and Hannover looking for a record 4th clean sheet in a row. The confidence was actually there that we could keep that record-breaking clean sheet today. Also making a return today was Edgar Prib and club captain Lars Stindl. The problems that we had in some previous games regarding our midfield could be solved. As “Alte Liebe” rings out throughout the stadium I notice that there are a lot of empty seats in the stadium (about 9000 of them). The only previous game this season that wasn’t a sell out was the midweek game against FC Köln for Game Day 5. I was surprised that a 15:30 game on the Saturday against Bayer Leverkusen was not sold out.

Anyway, kick off… and while there was some singing and chanting coming from the home fans, we knew that in order to win this game we needed to take this game to Leverkusen right from the beginning. 7 minutes in and the ball was in the back of the net, goal for Hannover….but disallowed for offside. The warning signs were there, Stindl was playing high in the midfield a distributing the ball well to the wings and Hannover were playing well. 15 mins in and a glorious chance for Stindl, he seemed to be expecting Kiyotake to finish it and when the ball rebounded off the goalkeeper it landed at the feet of Stindl and went agonisingly just wide of the post. With a few more games under his belt maybe he would have put that away.

With the great start made by Hannover, the fans responded and really upped the volume in the stadium. Chant of Hannover were emanating from the north stand and the west and south would respond in kind. The players from both sides, were sensing this game was there for the taking. Hannover were attacking and passing the ball well and Bayer Leverkusen were making good use of their possession through swift counter attacks and good fluid play. This created a bit of feisty atmosphere and for a small period of play tackles were flying in. Players being left on the ground and no whistle from the referee making the next tackle a little stronger. The players were seeing how far they could go without being penalised. The referee was starting to lose a bot of control, the fans, who were loving this aggressive style were booing every time a Hannover player was left on the floor, were cheering every time a hard tackle went in on the Leverkusen players. 2 quick yellow cards, one to each team, let the players know who was the boss…I amnot going to say this very often but… “Well done referee”, that could have turned ugly.

25 mins gone and a mistake from Sakai nearly gifted a goal to Leverkusen. The Hannover defense seems to be a bit shaky under the high balls and Leverkusen are putting good pressure on them. The clean sheet record is still intact…for now. Another bit of good play from Hannover and especially Stindl, with another great chance for our captain to mark his return to the side with a goal, but again just inches wide. I am so glad Lars Stindl in back, he was what we were missing, that creative spark and leadership. Hopefully he can stay fit, get that match sharpness back and address the current awful goal return Hannover currently has.

Half time and the fans were singing, Hannover were playing well and full of confidence, Jimmy Briand even attempting another bicycle kick shortly before half time. 0-0 and on reflection Hannover can be a bit unlucky that there were not ahead. 2 great chances for Stindl and a disallowed goal. The most important thing was, so far another clean sheet, 45 mins to go to create a Hannover club record!! Come on boys, you can do it….concentrate.

Second Half and seconds in and disaster! Goal for Bayer Leverkusen from Stefan Kießling. Gone..clean sheet record, concentration and a little bit of hope. To play that well in the first half and have nothing to show, then 60 seconds into the second to be 1 down was a demoralising blow. The shock of the early goal took a few minutes to sink in, and then…double disaster…2 nil Leverkusen. Once again coming from an attack down the left, Sakai stands off his man giving a chance to Heung-Min Son to turn the ball to his right foot and curl a lovely shot past Zieler. The Hannover fans were stunned, yes while some people would expect Leverkusen to beat Hannover, it just didn’t seem fair that they played so well in the first half and all of a sudden were 2 nil down and seemingly no way back.

Football in a funny old game and next attack 2 mins later from Hannover led to a free kick out on the right, it was swung in from Kiyotake and leaping the highest was Ceyhun Gulselam to score his first goal for Hannover, a well executed header in off the post just out of the reach of the stretched arm of Bernd Leno. Unbelievable, Hannover are back in it and the fans now raise the volume once again, and the belief is back in the stadium.

At 1-2, the players start to push for that equalising goal and start to get higher and higher up the pitch. This was either going to result in 2-2 or 1-3 and, disappointingly it was the latter. A nice through ball from Roberto Hilbert to Karim Bellarabi who timed his run to perfection and calmly slotted home his one-on-one against Zieler.

This was the final nail in the coffin, there would be no coming back from this. Double substitution where the two returning players are given a break and Stindl and Prib are replaced by Sobiech and Albornoz. Lars Stindl, playing his first Bundesliga match this season was great in the first half but just seemed to run out of steam in the second half.

The rest of the game was played in a low-key fashion, with Bayer Leverkusen comfortable at 1-3 and Hannover just seemed to not believe that after the first half performance are staring down the wrong side of a 1-3 scoreline.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed in the game, not for the way they played but how that scoreline doesn’t reflect the balance of play and that while it was great Gulselam got himself on the score sheet, we are badly missing a striker. Strikers are judged on the goals they score and so far Jimmy Briand with 1 goal and Joselu with 2 goals but none since game day 5 against Köln. We need something different, maybe this could be Stindl, better delivery into the box?? more freedom to the strikers?? Anyway, looking at the positives, first half – great and Stindl and Prib are back. The next game is an away game against Hoffenheim and the next visitors to HDI arena are Wolfsberg on the 6th December at 15:30. Lets show Team VW who is the number 1 team in Niedersachsen!

Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 1 – 3 Bayer Leverkusen

0-1  Stefan Kießling 46 mins, 0-2 Heung-Min Son 58 mins, 1-2 Ceyhun Gulselam 60 mins, 1-3 Karim Bellarabi 71 mins

Hannover 96 Vs Eintracht Frankfurt (Game Day 10)

Sunny Relief in the HDI Arena

With an unexpected win away from home against Dortmund and then another unexpected defeat in the Pokal against Aalem since the last home game Hannover 96 have had a strange week. The early momentum from the opening few games has gone and it is difficult to see how this is going this going to change. What we need is belief!

It was a beautiful sunny day today in Hannover and walking to the stadium the hope was that this November ray of sunshine would extend over the HDI arena. In reality, a game against Eintracht Frankfurt who have a free-flowing attack who have scored 17 goals so far in the Bundesliga  compared to Hannover’s paltry 7 goals. The signs were there that this could be disappointing afternoon. The attendance reflected this, for the first Saturday game this season, the stadium was not sold out. After the last two home games some fans have probably decided to stay at home.

The last home game ended with a chorus of boos coming from certain sections of the crowd to one of the most pitiful performances that I have seen by the midfield of a professional team.  Here is a new game and while the fans still remember the last few games, the atmosphere at the beginning of the game was one of flag waving, cheering, clapping and singing albeit a bit muted.

This is where football fans and football players have a “give and take” relationship. We will cheer you on and sing to create a combative atmosphere BUT you must give us something to cheer about. This week the players gave us exactly that right from the first minute. The opening 20 minutes it was a completely different team to the last two games. Hannover could have taken an early lead after 10 mins but a last-ditch defensive clearance on the line from a Jimmy Briand half chance. Hannover were playing well and the fans were responding. Then all the pressure on the Eintracht Frankfurt goal cracked and a cross gave Jimmy Briand, who leaped highest, a headed goal at the back post around the 20 minute mark. The stadium erupted on for a few seconds only to realise the referee had disallowed the goal. As I sit in the South Stand the “goal” was scored about 30 feet away from me and I have no idea why it was disallowed and judging by the reaction of the complete stadium nobody else know why either. THIS was a bad decision…or at least it seemed to be. This had a bit of a negative effect on the team and the next 10 or so minutes the game started to lose its direction but the chorus of boos, jeers and whistles for the referee continued for the next few minutes and united the supporters.

The first half ended 0-0 with Hannover getting back in control of the game and they would be a bit disappointed and nervous not to be going into the half time break with a well deserved lead.

The second half started and the fans started cheering hoping for more of the same that we saw in the first half. Then…..another contraversial decision from the referee and all of a sudden a ball was smashed across the complete pitch that came from the Hannover dugout. The pressure and tension were so high that all these decisions (which I view as terrible) from the referee caused a vent of frustration in the form of kicking a ball hard across the pitch. Complaints going to the 4th official and across came the referee and sent Jörg Sievers to the stands.

Hannover started pushing further and further up the pitch and did leave themselves a bit vulnerable at the back and Frankfurt did a couple of counter attack chances but nothing was equal to our world cup winning goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler parrying, punching and deflecting all that they had to offer.

While the game was looking like heading to 0-0, the fans seemed to be bit more contented with the performance this week than in previous games. Out comes the Hannover 96 mascot “Eddie” to get the fans cheering a bit louder right until the final whistle. THEN…..and this is why football is the best sport in the world and why you should always play your best until the final whistle, a free kick in the 88th minute given to Hannover, the ball is whipped in and then all of a sudden the net ripples…”GOOOOAL” and this one counts. I cannot fully explain the joy and relief that was felt within the stadium. The goal in the stadium was given to Marcelo but it was Alexander Madlung who deflected the ball into his own net. The fans jumping for joy and ALL the players run and celebrate in the dugout. The relief by Hannover coaching staff was apparent for all to see.

This time, I leave the stadium with a massive smile on my face not only happy with the result but happy with much better performance. The next game is a winnable away game in Berlin and the next visitors to HDI arena is Bayer Leverkusen on the 22nd November at 15:30.

Come on everyone, lets keep our heads high, it was a marked improvement on the previous games…. Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 1 – 0 Eintracht Frankfurt

1-0  Alexander Madlung (og) 88min 

Hannover 96 Vs Borussia Mönchengladbach (Game Day 8)

Comedy of Errors

With the international break and the two games before being away games, it seems like a long time since we were last in the stadium. And to be honest, I wish it was little longer. There is no beating around the bush, in the four years I have been a season ticket holder this was, without question, the worst I have seen them play but more of that later…

Before we get into the report of the stadium visit of Mönchengladbach, there was a report of the cost of football done by the BBC covering all the English and Scottish clubs and some of the bigger European clubs (of which Hannover does not feature). For those of you interested here is how Hannover compares:

Cheapest Season Ticket	185.00 €
Most Expensive Season Ticket	695.00 €
Cheapest Match Day Ticket	14.00 €
Most Expensive Match Day Ticket	54.00 €
Bratwurst	3.00 €
Beer	4.00 €
Coffee	3.50 €
Match Programme	1.00 €

So all in all, Hannover and Germany offers great quality football at a reasonable price.

So on to todays game:

Heading to the stadium this time, there was a bit of fear, Mönchengladbach are a good strong team and coming off the back of two consecutive away defeats, this was not the fixture we could have done with. Hannover at home though, are a different proposition. They fear no-one and in the 4 years I have been going to the stadium whether it is Athletico Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern or Bochum, they play good, fluid, attacking football….most of the time.

Once in the stadium the Mönchengladbach fans had turned up in huge numbers and absolutely packed the South West corner of the stadium and were singing and waving their flags. Now it was our turn. Before every home game, prior to the players coming out onto the pitch, the stadium sings “Alte Liebe” which is the official anthem of Hannover 96. This time, the rendition was little more subdued than normal. Maybe the fans collectively had a feeling what was about to happen.

The opening 5 mins of the game, the signs were looking good for Hannover. Two promising free kicks which lead to nothing but the signs were there. Those signs were to be short-lived, 15 mins gone in the game and a poor clearance and some defensive mistakes gave Mönchengladbach a chance to cross. A pin point cross from Alvaro Dominguez right on to the head of Max Kruse gave Mönchengladbach a deserved one – nil lead. The rest of the first half just petered out into rather dull affair, so much so that, some fans in the south stand started making paper airplanes and one actually made it all the way onto the pitch. Mis-placed passes and no cohesion in midfield led to some negative football from Hannover and the fans made their annoyance clear with a few echos of boos, which only got louder on the half time whistle. Mönchengladbach on the other hand saw this game for the taking and chants of “Europa Pokal” were ringing from the south-west corner.

This match was the first time that the Bundesliga had used the special spray (or shaving foam) for free kicks. Shortly now into the second half and the referee saw reason to use it for the first time. This was greeted with cheers from all fans when he started to spray the line for the ball and the second line ten meters away. Everyone was probably thinking “hahahaha…that’s pretty good!” that Granit Xhaka took full advantage to smash the ball to the keeper side, slightly wrong footing Zieler and the ball was nestled in the back of the net for a two nil lead and still the best part of 45 mins to play. Oh oh!

The second half was one of the worst performances I have seen, the midfield were ineffective, which put added pressure on the defense and more and more defensive mistakes were being made. This turned into a lot of backward passing or our defenders trying to play “route one” football and hoof the ball up to the strikers which was easily cleaned up by Mönchengladbach every single time. To call this a comedy of errors is an insult to the word comedy as there was nothing remotely funning or entertaining about the second half. The boos were getting louder and more often and the half progressed. The third goal in stoppage time saw Zieler chase the ball a bit to far out the penalty box and the ball clipped back to Max Kruse for this second goal of the game and Mönchengladbach’s third. Finally the referee blew the final whistle and put us all out of our pain.

Hannover never looked threatening throughout the whole match and a midfield shake up is sorely needed. We need Lars Stindl and Edgar Prib back fully fit and in the team. There was report that Tayfun Korkut was the bookies favourite for the next Bundesliga manager to get the sack. While Hannover are not the hiring and firing type of club, I can understand why the bookies are thinking along those lines.

This game was, once again, fully sold out. I think a few more performances like that those of you who want follow the BBC cost of football calculator and travel from outside Germany to Hannover for a game. You should have no problems getting a ticket.

The next game is an away game in Dortmund…hmmm!…then the next visitors to HDI arena is Eintracht Frankfurt on the 1st November at 15:30.

Come on everyone, heads up and Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 0 – 3 Borussia Mönchengladbach

0-1 Kruse 15 mins, 0-2 Xhaka 49 mins, 0-3 Kruse 90 mins

Hannover 96 Vs FC Köln (Game Day 5)

3 up,  3 down and 100% at Home

The Oktoberfest in underway in Germany and the location of this in Hannover is in the shadow of the HDI arena. The close proximity of the Oktoberfest to the stadium combined with the so called “English week” of games (which is what Germans call games that are played during the week instead of at the weekend) make for an interesting pre-match. People head from work, meet up for a few social drinks at the Oktoberfest and head to the stadium already in the mood for singing. In the stadium itself, they also had a “happy hour” before the game where all beer was 50% off. Something was telling me that could be a very enjoyable game under the floodlights.

My seat in the stadium is directly behind the goal where the away team warms up, it is always interesting to see them going through the shooting practice. A one-two pass on the edge of the box and shoot for goal. Watching them shoot, I was amazed at their accuracy and proficiency at finding the top corner of the goal nearly every time. I was wondering how this team had only scored 2 goals in the first 4 games! Their finishing was sublime. I was hoping that they would not continue this level of finishing into the actual game. Only time would tell.

Kick off, and the with the pitch being illuminated by the hundreds of floodlights on all side the singing started in ernest from both sides. This Cologne team may have only scored 2 goals in the first 4 games but in those 4 games they have kept 4 clean sheets, a great credit to their defensive work….but it took only 6 minutes for them to know they would not be keeping a 5 clean sheet. A turn and shot from Jimmy Briand that was blocked and fell nicely to Joselu who himself turned and shot past Timo Horn into the bottom left hand corner. 1 nil Hannover and the energy was buzzing.

Hannover were playing very well in the opening of the first half and dominating Cologne, shots were coming from all angles. One in particular from Briand went over the bar and over the protective net and was caught by a guy in the first row. Nothing too spectacular there, happens all the time, but the guys reaction was brilliant. Normally when the ball goes into the crowd, it gets thrown straight back to the ball boy, but this guy catches the ball, holds onto it and takes out his mobile and starts taking some “selfies” of himself with the ball. He then hands it to his friend who does the same. All this time the poor ball boy is just standing there waiting quietly. Once they got enough pictures they did return the ball to ball boy.

Half time and I was now starting to see why Cologne had only scored 2 goals in 4 games, their finishing in the warm up was excellent but they lacked the ability to get into those positions during the first half. Then, over the stadium speakers, just to get us all in even more of the mood, “I Gotta Feelin” by Black Eyed Peas with the line “I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night”, 1-0 up and I agree with them, lets hope for more of the same in the second half.

The Cologne team was out after the HT break a few minutes before even the referee. They started the second half strongly but rarely looked like getting back on level terms. A few glimpse and nice header that was comfortably parried  by Zieler was about the height of it. This started to look like a game that was just going to peter out in a 1-0 scoreline. Hannover starting to take their time over every goalkick, throw in, etc and Cologne trying to inject some urgency which had a bit of a comical response. The ball goes out for a thrown in and the Cologne player runs after the ball, turns and restarts with a throw in. At the same time a ball boy throws a second ball and we have two Cologne players taking the throw in at exactly the same time 10 yards apart. Referee blows for two balls on the pitch and by Cologne trying to speed up play they actually slowed it down. Something was telling me that this was not going to be Cologne’s day.

A little of complaceny was starting to creep in around the 70 min mark from  both the players and the fans until I looked over and saw Tayfun Korkut going nuts on the sideline and even at one time enting a few meters onto the pitch to make his point, Hannover responded and the fans responded in kind, the atmosphere was back, singing, clapping and cheering the team over the finish line.

Full Time, unbeaten this season at home!! Unreal!

While this game will not go down as one of the classic encounters that I’ve experienced in the stadium, let’s look at the positives; 3 points, 3rd in the table and the bonus of a clean sheet. This means 9 points from the 3 home games so far. If only Hannover could play every Bundesliga game at home! So, the excellent start to the season continues and with two consecutive away games coming up the next visitors to the HDI fortress are Borussia Mönchengladbach on the 18th October at 15:30. Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 1 – 0 FC Köln

1-0 Joselu 6 mins

Hannover 96 Vs Hamburg (Game Day 3)

The Battle of HSV vs HSV

With Hannover 96 making it into the top 50 of European teams (place 44 and 1 ahead of Liverpool) according to the latest official UEFA co-efficient (click here to see for yourself) and a very respectable 0-0 against Mainz 05 on Game Day 2, the atmosphere was in stark contrast to 2 weeks ago against Schalke 04. There was genuine hope and expectation this week. And why wouldn’t there be hope and expection? Hamburg had a terrible season last year and the first two results of this campaign see them sitting at the bottom of the table after being beaten by Bundesliga new boys Paderborn at home on Game Day 2. This game, as are all derby games, was a “must win” but this one felt, walking to the stadium, a “will win”.

The friendly nature of the Hannover Vs Hamburg means that the stadium announcer from Hamburg travels down and announces the Hamburg players as if they were at home. The Hamburg captain was Johann Djourou, who was on loan at Hannover for the second half of the 2012/13 season. I was expecting a mixed reaction from the home fans towards him but when his name was called out, there was no discernible negative reaction from the haome fans. The same was true of the Hamburg coach, Mirko Slomka, who was the manager of Hannover from Jan 2010 to Dec 2013.

Just to add a little bit of extra spice to the game, the big screen in the stadium gives us all a view of a VIP! and what a VIP it is. German National trainer Joachim Löw. Wonder who he is here to see??

After a loud signing of the Hamburg song with the added visual effect of a load of blue and white ballons, the volume was turned up on the Hannover song “Alte Liebe” when at the end, unfortunatly some flares were lit in the guest block.

The game kicked off and the singing from the home fans that was so badly missing during the Schalke game was….THERE! Less than 30 seconds into the game and the Hannover fans were singing and singing loudly. The opening 5 mins was the best to any game I’ve been to in a while, Joselu had two half chances in the first few minutes. Hamburg fans were singing, Hannover fans were signing, chances at both ends and an open free flowing game of football. The stadium was electric, what more could a football fan want? A Goal, that’s what. We didn’t have long to wait, in a phase of play which resembled crossing practice from Sakai, Albornoz, Schmiedebach and anyone else who fancied going out wide Joselu got the ball and sucked in 2 defenders and layed the ball off to Albornoz who had all the time in world to place an inch perfect cross onto the head of Leon Andreasen, 1 nil Hannover and 13 minutes gone.

Less than 10 minutes later it is 2 nil to Hannover, once again the Hamburg defenders stand off and let Joselu advance and advance until he is nearly in the 6 yard box and squares the ball where Artur Sobiech bundles both himself and the ball over the goalline. The fans up the volume once more and sense there could be alot of goals today.

Slomka, on his return to Hannover seeing his team 2-0 down after 24 minutes decides to send out a couple of substitutes to warm up. One of these substitutes is Artjoms Rudnevs, who spend the second part of last season on loan in Hannover from Hamburg. While he was running down to the warm up area behind the hamburg goal, he turned to the Hannover fans in that section and applauded. This was greeted by a ripple of genuine applause back to him. Rudnevs, you are a true gentleman.

So 2-0 at the break and the expectation was that Hannover could and should kick on and put this game to bed. The fans were great form and the players were playing extremely well. Rudnev had been brought on at half time and within a minute of the restart Hamburg had a great opportunity to score, some miscommunication at the back for Hannover should have allowed Hamburg back into the game but the shot was pulled just wide to the relief of Ron-Robert Zieler. The atomosphere turned quieter as the second half went on and barring one top class shot from Joselu in the 62 miunte and an acrobatic save from Jaroslav Drobny, Hamburg looked the more likely to score. A second golden opportunity to score went begging for Hamburg in the 67th minute through Rudnev and the Hamburg number 10, Pierre-Michael Lasogga turns and appeals to the Hamburg fans to up the volume. Which they duly did, only for 30 seconds later the same player to attempt to cross the ball and for him to, in golfing terms, shank the ball a mile wide. He turned around apolgised to his team mates and ran off to try again.

80 minutes gone and Hamburg were still looking like the team more likely to score but just lacked a decent ball in the final third. The Hannover fans sensing time was running out, raised their voice trying to push the team over the finish line. The minutes ticked by and knowing 3 points were in the bag the Nordcurve attempts to get a mexican wave started, and on the third or fourth atttempt, they succeeded. North stand to West then south and over past the business seats of the East stand, everyone got involved for 3 rounds of a mexican wave.

Final Whistle! All over a big cheer for the lads well done and I feel that if we can keep Joselu fit this could be a nice season.

So 2 home games down for Hannover 96 and there are only two teams with a 100% home record, us and…..Bayern Munich. Excellent start to the season and bring on the next visitors to the HDI fortress, FC Köln on the 24th September at 20:00. Auf gehts Hannover!

Hannover 96 2 -0 Hamburg

1-0 Andreasen 13 mins, 2-0 Sobiech 24 mins

Hannover 96 Vs Schalke 04 (Game Day 1)

New Shirt, New Sponsor, New Season….New Optimisim??

After 104 days the Bundesliga is back for the 52nd season! There was the little thing about the FIFA world cup to tide us all over during that time so this football summer was a little more bearable than others.

12 months ago Hannover opened their season, coincidently also against Schalke. The feeling 12 months ago was distinctly different, we were playing Euorpa League football for the second consecutive season and had a real feeling that we could beat anyone. Mirko Slomka had Mame Diouf and Ya Konan scoring goals for fun and Huszti providing assists like there was no tomorrow! Despite not playing the best that day we were helped by an early sending off for Schalke and went on to win the game by 2 goals (Hustzi and Diouf) to 1 (Szalai)….and also by 10 men to Schalkes 9 men. Belief was high for the coming season. Alas, a managerial change during the christmas break and a couple of loan signings saw us secure another season in the Bundesliga and finish a respectable (if not disappointing) 10th place.

This summer Hannover have been busy “wheeling and dealing” with 9 new players coming in and 5 players returning from loan. However, the main talking points are who has left. Mame Diouf gone to Stoke, Ya Konan gone to Al-Ittihad, Huszti gone to Changchun Yatai and not to forget Captain America, Steven Cherundolo retiring after 15 years at the club. Can we cope without these players? Who will be our playmaker? Who will score all the goals?? These questions and many many more will be answered over the next 9 months and 34 game days.

The atmosphere walking through Hannover heading to the stadium was in stark contrast to 12 months ago. The belief seemed to not be there, there was no overt shouting and singing on the streets and in the buses and trains. Fans making their way to the stadium not sure what to feel; fear…joy…anxiety…trepidation at playing one of the perennial “big boys” in German football, or all of the above.

Entering the stadium 20 mins before kick off and the we were greeted to a sea of Blue and White. The Schalke travelling support was immense, they had taken up their allotted allocation and about 4 times more. The whole south-west corner was drenched in blue that extended into the west stand and there were blue shirts dotted through the stadium. Looking at the team sheet for Schalke and the fear started to grow, world cup winners and experienced internationals everywhere. The joy that I had coming back “home” to the HDI arena after 104 days started to turn to trepidation.

Despite all the new signings, there was only 4 changes from the team that ended last season with the 3-2 win against Freiburg. If new club captain Lars Stindl was fit, that number would only be 3. People were wondering if new signing Joselu can take the place of Diouf, Ya Konan or Huszti, personally I was hoping he would take over from all 3 but only time will tell.

The game kicked off and upper section of the North stand seemed to be a bit empty. The Ultras, in protest of the board, are boycotting the professional team and starting to support the U23’s instead. The normally loud, singing, atmosphere-inducing Ultras were gone, instead some empty seats and like an orchestra without the conductor the normally vocal home support was overshadowed by the thousands of Schalke supporters who were signing and shouting and boy were they singing and shouting. Now my trepidation is turing to fear.

The first half was a tight affair with only a few set pieces for Hannover looking like only way for Hannover to get on the scoresheet. With no real open chances I started to focus on the two new arrivals I had high hopes for, Joselu and Mikko Albornoz. While Albornoz was relatively ineffective there were some glimpses of Joselu and what he is capable of. I liked what I saw, nice movement, few tricks up his sleeve. His link up play was smooth and he seemed to be on the same wavelength as his teammates and in 36th minute some nice play between Edgar Prib and Joselu saw the latter free on the edge of the box to take his first shot in anger as a “Red”. This time he pulled his shot wide. Still we had no organising singing from the home fans. Shortly before half time a superb turn and shot from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar brought out a wonderful save from our world champion goalkeeper, Zieler. That was the only shot that troubled either goalkeeper in the first 45 mins. So 0-0 going in at the break and that was probably a fair result.

They say that football is a game of two halves and how true that is after the mostly dull 0-0 opening 45 mins, it only took 90 seconds to break the deadlock. Some slow defending let Schalke free down the left and clinically show Hannover how to play simple football leaving Zieler no chance and the simpliest of tap-ins for Huntelaar. Now my fear is turning to anxiety “How many will they get now? Has the flood gates just opened?” The home support which was quiet before got even quieter and the Schalke fans turned up the volume on their chants. I was starting to think I was watching an away match. Now Schalke are on top and looking to extend their advantage and are pushing hard for a second. Something has to change. 60 mins and Korkut makes a change. One debutant for another Albornoz who has probably played better games, comes off and on comes Hiroshi Kiyotake. What a change! Kiyotake is like a dog with a bone and his energy and determination has an effect. Bittencourt, had an excellent game, regains possesion beats his defender for pace and delivers an exquisit ball for Edgar Prib who does excellently to steer the ball into the bottom right hand corner.

1-1 and game on…and still no singing.

3 minutes later Edgar Prib turns provider and is allowed to advance nearly half the pitch before laying the ball off to Joselu and from outside the box…BANG!…. GOAL! 2-1. The stadium erupts not quite beliveing what has just happened from 1 down to 2-1 up in a matter of minutes. My seat is in a directly line with the flight of the ball and the minute he hit it….I was out of my seat jumping up and down. Now the home support was singing. My trepidation had turned into belief then immense joy in the space of 3 minutes.

My personal man of the match must go to Prib for his contribution today but honorable mentions must go to Bittencourt and Kiyotake.

“Football is a funny old game that is not played on paper” and it is days like this that I thank God it isn’t. 3 points, unbeaten at home…bring on the Europa League! “Auf gehts Hannover!” and bring on the next visitors to the HDI Arena and it’s a big one… friendly derby Vs HSV (Hamburg)

Hannover 96 2 -1 Schalke 04

0-1 Huntelaar 47 mins, 1-1 Prib 67 mins, 2-1 Joselu 70 mins