Hamburg have once again failed to to live up to expectations and are struggling at the foot of the Bundesliga table despite investing heavily in the summer transfer window.

The team from the north had been busy in the transfer window, which had seen them add ten new faces to the struggling squad. The first being Zoltán Steiber from Greuther Fürth who has defeated in the relegation play-off last may. The signing of the Hungarian right sided midfielder came as a shock to many involved with the club.

Another unfamiliar face was that of young Gideon Jung from Rot-Weiss-Oberhausen, it was later confirmed he would be developed in the youth academy before being involved in the top flight. Swiss defender Johan Djourou also signed after activating a clause in his contract whilst he was on loan from Arsenal the previous season. Another singing this time from the other club in North London was that of ex midfielder Lewis Holtby it's believed there is an option to sign him permanently if the club wish at the end of the season. 

After a season which had seen them concede over 70 goals Slomka wanted to tighten up his defence and by doing this signed Brazilian Centre back Cléber for a undisclosed fee from Corinthians. The other new additions came from Central Europe Valon Behrami from Napoli and four Bundesliga players which were that of Nicolai Müller (Mainz), Matthias Ostrzolek (Augsburg) Julian Green (Bayern München).

These signings came after long discussions between the clubs and the returning Didi Beisedorfer who on his return said the club was "His baby". The most notable singing was that of Pierre-Michel Lasogga from Hertha Berlin the 23 year old who had netted 13 goals in 20 Bundesliga appearances whilst on loan the previous season became a favourite of the fans. This led to him being the center of much speculation from the German media in the weeks up to his signature with HSV. over €30 million had been spent by the club so expectations were very high for Mirko Slomka's men. 

Mirko Slomka had a disappointing start to the season coming up against the two newly promoted sides Köln and SC Paderborn which were expected to produce maximum points however only one out of six was taken the latter of the clubs winning 3-0 at the Imtech arena. They had also failed to find the net to the disappointment of the fans, the following game away to Hannover would signal the end of Slomka's tenure.

Didi Beiersdorfer stated, "The club needs change quick before its too late." The short term plan was to promote Joe Zinnbauer from the U-23 Squad who were top of the league after winning eight out of eight. His first task was to defeat the machine of Bayern München who's head coach Pep Guardiola had been very admirable of the leagues longest serving club. The game ended 0-0 but gave a much needed confidence boost to the struggling side. Hamburgs first goal of the season came against Frankfurt but it wasn't enough as a last minute Lucas Piazon costless kick killed of HSV's efforts. 

The most expensive singing would Prove to be the one to score the winner away to Dortmund the much needed and deserved win came after a run of failing to get a win in nine consecutive league games stretching back to last April their next win would be against high flying Bayer Leverkusen which had seen the return of Hakan Calhanoglu which had seen him subject of a controversial move south away from the club. 

HSV went on to win in their next two home games which had included a Nordderby win against rivals Werder Bremen this was also the first time in which they had scored two in a game since the start of the campaign. Two strong draws away from home to Freiburg and Schalke had seen them keep up with the fellow strugglers. Czech keeper Jaroslav Drobny had played a massive part in both saving a penalty against Freiburg from Kruse and gaining a man of the match award away to Schalke. 

All of the summer signings cost €30.3 million in total and as of yet have failed to guide HSV to a secure place in the table, especially after signing a number of attacking players to only have scored nine goals was a massive displeasure to the Hamburg faithful. On a positive note they have gained points against the big teams such as Bayern, Leverkusen and Dortmund and have improved vastly since the start of the season bringing a number of youngsters from the youth system in such as Mo Gouiada, Matti Steinmann, Ashton Götz all have done well in their limited game time.

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About the author
Liam Watson
Bundesliga fanatic. Fan of Hamburg sv and also love Deutschland lower league football and grounds.