Peretz’s comments when speaking to Israeli channel Sport 5 are actually rather curious as it was clearly stated that Peretz was meant to compete with regular HSV starter Daniel Heuer Fernandes. Peretz delivered an especially poor training camp with HSV and, as a result, was not tapped to even earn a start in Hamburg’s opening round cup fixture. 

“It’s obvious that I’m disappointed that I’m not playing in Hamburg,” Peretz told the Israeli broadcaster. “I didn’t expect not to be playing. It was actually clear that I would be playing. But the things that are happening right now are no longer under my control. I am responsible for my own behavior and conduct. Maybe there will be a change in January, because I really want to play.”

HSV sporting director Claus Costa has already responded to Peretz’s comments in an interview with transfermarkt.de. Costa reiterated that Peretz simply lost the training camp battler against Daniel Heuer Fernandes and denied that any specific promises had been made. 

“We offered him some prospects, but it was also completely clear that we already have an absolute top man in ‘Ferro’ [Heuer Fernades],” Costa said. “Up until the very end [of training camp], it was a really close race between the goalkeepers. The outcome is not satisfactory for him and his disappointment is understandable. Anything else would have surprised me.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

When asked whether he still sees his future at the club he has called home for the past six years, Heuer Fernandes said: “Of course I can imagine my future in Hamburg. I’m glad to be here, that’s why HSV is always an obvious option for me.” 

It wasn’t a given that the German-Portuguese dual national would start the season as Merlin Polzin’s number one, despite wearing the shirt to match. With Hamburg having signed Daniel Peretz on loan from Bayern Munich, Heuer Fernandes had to fend off competition from the Israeli to keep the position he has held for the past six seasons. 

Speaking about his and HSV’s good start to the season, he remained modest: “We’ve only completed the sixth matchday and still have a long way to go to achieve our goal – that’s my focus at the moment.” 

He remains calm about his contract situation: “I don’t see the topic of contract extension as priority number one at the moment, especially since it has not yet been discussed with those responsible.” 

Heuer Fernandes is clearly proud of his HSV career thus far. He is the second-highest appearance maker in the Hamburg squad, behind Bakary Jatta: “I’m proud of it. That’s not always easy and every day in such a special position as goalkeeper,” he said. “The last goalkeeper to be number 1 for HSV for so long in recent decades was Richard Golz. It’s something extraordinary when my name is mentioned afterwards.” 

GGFN | Harry Good 

Hamburg head coach Merlin Polzin praised Lokonga for filling in almost perfectly for the suspended Vieira. The possibility of the two Gunners working together in a midfield double-six set-up may be some way off, but Polzin may be prepared to find some place for Lokonga in the starting XI. 

“Sambi definitely succeeded in his task,” Polzin remarked at the post-match press conference. “He did well both on and off the ball. The drive towards goal and making the right decisions in the final third is precisely what we need.“

The player himself answered questions from journalists in the mixed zone on Sunday night. When asked whether or not he entertained the notion of working alongside his friend Vieira, Lokonga smiled widely and answered “Of course we can play together“.

“Prior to this game, I hadn’t played from the start in a long time,” Lokonga said of his own performance. “Now I’ve played 60 minutes and I can promise that I’ll keep getting better and better.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

Hamburg Make Mince Meat of Mainz 

Hamburg made it back-to-back home wins as they battered Mainz 05 4-0 on Sunday afternoon. HSV were on top from the first minute and found themselves 2-0 up after just nine minutes thanks to goals from Albert Sambi Lokonga and Rayan Philippe. Philippe would add to his first goal in the second half, bringing his tally for the season to three goals from six games. The forward had a failed move to Mainz in the summer and mocked the situation with his celebration by mimicking a phone call. 

HSV head coach Merlin Polzin opted for a new 3-4-3 formation, and it worked a treat against a side that was so successful last campaign. 

“We’re progressing and one can see that in our play with the ball and against the ball. We’ve more steps to take, but one senses – and this is vitally important – that the team is finding out who they are and the connections are getting better. The players need to feel it on the pitch,” explained Polzin. 

HSV move up to 9th in the Bundesliga, whilst Mainz drop to 16th. 

Bayern Breeze Past Frankfurt

Ahead of this one, it was billed as Bayern’s first big test this season. However, when Bayern went 0-1 up after 17 seconds through Luis Díaz, it was anything but a real test. 

Bayern once again dominated and showed just how powerful their forward line is this season. Vincent Kompany’s side went 0-2 before the break through a Harry Kane curled effort from 20 meters out. If you haven’t seen the goal already, I urge you to take a look. 

Diaz added to his first-half goal late into the second half to make sure that Bayern go six wins from six games in the Bundesliga. 

“I don’t think these games should be used as a yardstick to evaluate the boys right now,” Toppmöller insisted when conducting a post-match interview with Sky Germany after the match. “It’s important for us to know that we still have a little room for improvement in order to compete at this level.”

“No one has been able to keep up with Bayern at their level thus far [this year],” Toppmöller continued, adding special praise for Harry Kane’s distance effort that made it 0-2 in the 27th minute. “That was a typical Bayern goal and Harry Kane’s finish was simply world-class.”

For Frankfurt, it’s now 12 goals conceded in four games in all competitions. There’s no question that Frankfurt have an excellent team, but right now, their defensive displays will be worrying head coach Dino Toppmöller. Bayern stay top as Frankfurt drop out of the European places for the first time this season (7th).  

Dortmund Leipzig Stalemate 

Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig played a rather dull 1-1 draw that was billed as “the battle of the Bayern chasers”. In fact, the final xG stats (Dortmund 0.88, Leipzig 1.05) illustrate that the final scoreline was even a little generous. 

Dortmund remain undefeated this season ahead of their showdown with Bayern after the international break. Leipzig, meanwhile, continue their undefeated run since being battered by Bayern on opening night. 

In truth, both teams will probably be satisfied with the draw as Dortmund and Leipzig stay 2nd and 3rd, respectively. 

Around The Grounds

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, FC Heidenheim still remains bottom following a 1-0 loss to VfB Stuttgart. The Swabians scored the winner just past the hour mark from time to add even more misery on Frank Schmidt’s side. Heidenheim stay bottom, whilst Stuttgart shoot up into 4th. 

Bayer Leverkusen have put their early-season woes behind them as they go 5th with a 2-0 win against Union Berlin. It’s the first time that B04 has registered back-to-back Bundesliga wins this season as new head coach Kasper Hjulmand looks to be making a positive impact on his squad. 

Borussia Mönchengladbach still remain winless going into the international break after a 0-0 draw against SC Freiburg. Despite that and amid all the administrative turmoil at Borussia Mönchengladbach, interim head coach Eugen Polanski has been given the green light to continue his audition on the sidelines.

There were also wins for FC Köln (0-1 vs TSG Hoffenheim), Werder Bremen (1-0 vs St. Pauli), and FC Augsburg (3-1 vs VfL Wolfsburg). 

GGFN | Jamie Allen

Within six minutes, Lokonga had his first Bundesliga goal. Lokonga’s fellow new summer acquisition Rayan Philippe added a brace. Polzin’s back-three functioned perfectly fine without the injured Warmed Omari. Former midfield starter Nicolas Capaldo slid into the back three to take Omari’s place and registered an assist. Though he didn’t get his sought after goal, striker Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer also added an assist. 

In general, the victory provided Polzin with a chance to revel in the “footballing automatisms” his tactics and coaching have put into place. The manner in which the constellation continued to click despite some personnel shifts was absolutely a testament to the stable system Polzin and his staff have implemented. Polzin made certain to make reference to this whilst taking his “victory lap” at the post-match press conference. 

“I’m very optimistic heading forward as I see that we’re all pulling in the same direction,” Polzin said. “We’re progressing and one can see that in our play with the ball and against the ball. We’ve more steps to take, but one senses – and this is vitally important – that the team is finding out who they are and the connections are getting better.

“The players need to feel it on the pitch,” Polzin continued. “And that’s not something one can get from a PowerPoint presentation or a motivational speech from the coach. That’s something one gets when one trains a lot and spends a lot of time with others. When one doesn’t do it just for oneself, but for one’s teammates and colleagues who are working alongside you left and right.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

Philippe very early transferred to Mainz this summer until a deal ultimately fell through. The former Eintracht Braunschweig forward mocked the failed transfer by mimicking a phone call with his fingers after scoring the 10th-minute 2-0. The Frenchman spoke on the action in the mixed zone.

In a sense, it was Philippe himself who rendered the deal difficult by scoring a dramatic late equalizer that helped Braunschweig best Saarbrücken in the promotion-relegation playoffs. Braunschweig’s 2. Bundesliga status led to his club demanding a higher transfer fee. 

“When we stayed up after the relegation playoffs, my agent said it was going to be difficult,” Philippe said. “It was really close, but I’m happy to be here [in Hamburg] now.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

Polzin gave every indication that it would be Viera’s fellow former Gunner Albert Sambi Lokonga who would take the Portuguese midfielder’s place. Both players were acquired near the end of the transfer window when it became increasingly apparent that the midfield duo comprised of two other summer acquisitions, Nicolas Capaldo and Nicolai Remberg, wasn’t qualified enough to hack it at Bundesliga level.

If the twice-capped Belgian international can prove his worth alongside Remberg this coming Sunday, some starts together with Vieira may not be far behind. Lokonga has thus far made only two substitute appearances whilst Vieira has played thrice from the start. Remberg has logged maximum minutes through the first five rounds, but the former Holstein Kiel man has not managed to get his name on the scoresheet just yet. 

“Fitness-wise, he can now play from the start,” Polzin said of Lokonga on Friday. “It has been shown that it has been good for us to play with a clearly defensive-minded midfielder and an offensive-minded player in the center. Sambi is one of the strongest candidates to play from the beginning.”

In other HSV-related personnel news, the team was rocked by bad news this week when it was revealed that another one of the key summer acquisitions – Stade Rennes loanee Warmed Omari – will be out until the winter break with a sydnesmosis injury. Polzin tapped Guilherme Ramos to start in the Comoros international’s place. 

Danish striker Yussuf Poulsen – whom Polzin has taken plenty of flak for naming as his new squad captain – will return from injury and be available off the bench. Injury struggles have prevented Poulsen from see much action this season. The 31-year-old has not suited up for HSV since matchday two. 

GGFN | Peter Weis

On Monday, the German FA judged Vieira’s action to be worthy of a two-match-ban. Hamburg appealed the verdict, yet saw their motion denied by the DFB on Tuesday. HSV argued that Vieira – who proved an essential part of the club’s first Bundesliga win in over seven years – did try to pull back before making contact with Querfeld. 

The DFB’s disciplinary arm rejected HSV’s argument and ultimately upheld their second two-match-ban resulting from the weekend action. Mainz 05 keeper Robin Zentner also drew a straight red for denying Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi a clear and obvious goal-scoring opportunity in Saturday’s 0-2 home loss.

In Zenter’s case, the fact that Dortmund didn’t score on the subsequently awarded dead-ball rendered a two-match-suspension mandatory. Zentner actually swept Adeyemi off his feet before the BVB attacker entered the penalty area in the 67th. Dortmund’s Julian Brandt sent the 70th-minute free kick into the wall. 

Mainz must play their next two league fixtures with 24-year-old Lasse Rieße in net. Rieße started two matches late in last year’s campaign, conceding one goal against Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Bochum in each of his respective starts. 

Unlike Hamburg, Mainz did not appeal the ban. 

GGFN | Peter Weis

It is still early days, but Hamburger SV players and management believe it is a sign of their development.

Penalty hero, Heuer Fernandes could not hide his delight at full-time, telling the media that his defence did well to stifle the strong Union attackers.

“I’m happy that I was able to save the penalty, because it would have been tough to fall behind early on against a team like Union. We were then able to control the game and had a lot of possession, but unfortunately without creating any really big chances, even though you always felt like something was going to happen.”

It feels good to have given so little away, had some opportunities ourselves and picked up a point against a team as strong and physical as Union, especially as we knew that their powerful forwards don’t need many chances to score. We dealt with that well.”

Lacking the clinical touch

Nicolai Remberg put in a disciplined, if not creative, performance in the centre of midfield for Hamburger SV, but felt that something is still missing up front:

“We played really well in the first half and had lots of good attacks where we made promising runs at the defence, but unfortunately we were just lacking that final decisive pass. We’re doing well going forward, but we simply should have scored a goal today. A point here at this stadium is okay in principle, but we could have come away with more today. It’s almost a little bit disappointing that we’ve only got the one point in the end. Still, we’ve picked up five points from five matches and shown that we’re definitely travelling in the right direction.”

“We deserved more”

Swiss midfielder, Miro Muheim was more positive about the performance in defence and attack:

“That was a very good team performance. We gave very little away defensively apart from the penalty kick, and Ferro of course saved that superbly. Other than that, we were very solid and defended compactly. We created some good chances too, but sadly we didn’t take them. That’s why we’re slightly disappointed that we couldn’t get the three points. We would definitely have deserved an away win.”

A Point Gained

HSV Head Coach, Merlin Polzin was equally effusive about his sides performance and saw the trip as a point gained, rather than three points lost:

“We started the game well apart from the penalty incident. We have to thank Ferro for keeping us in the game. He saved the spot kick brilliantly. The reaction to that was also great, with all the players coming together. By that point, we had definitely arrived in the game.

“I saw a very focused first-half performance from us when we had the ball. We managed to exploit the space and made it difficult for the opponents to pick up our players. We could have played out one or two chances better than we did. We knew that, as the game went on, the power of the Alte Försterei could come back and play a part. We dealt with that well, and you could say that we became more and more of a team unit. I’m more than satisfied with the performance and we’ll take the point with us.”

Overall, HSV can be hopeful about their development.

The goalless draw stemmed a tide that had seen them concede 11 goals in their previous four games, but scoring remains an issue.

HSV have managed just two goals so far this season, a Bundesliga low, and they will now look to build on this performance against Mainz 05 next week.

GGFN | Oscar O’Mara

Historic Harry 

Harry Kane scored a brace on Friday evening as Bayern Munich comfortably brushed aside Werder Bremen to truly kick off the Oktoberfest season. While Bayern are enjoying their best start to a Bundesliga campaign since 2016, Harry Kane also wrote his name into history once again. 

The Englishman’s two goals brought his overall Bayern tally to 100 in just 104 games. He is now the quickest player to register 100 goals for a club in Europe’s top five leagues. He surpasses both Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Erling Haaland (Manchester City), who both achieved 100 goals in 105 games. With 10 Bundesliga goals already this season, Kane appears to be in the form of his life as Bayern go marching on. 

The game against Bremen also saw Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka make their 300th Bundesliga appearance, whilst youngster Tom Bischof was granted his first start for Bayern. 

Bayern are now eight wins from eight in the Bundesliga and face Eintracht Frankfurt away in matchday 6. 

The 10-Goal Game 

Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Eintracht Frankfurt may just have hosted the most bizarre and entertaining game of the season as they played out a cracking (and at times hilarious) 4-6. 

Gladbach are yet to win this season, have sacked their head coach, and have been woeful at defending so far. When the halftime whistle blew and Frankfurt were 5-0 up, you feared that the Eagles could easily make it double-figures. Frankfurt immediately made it 0-6 within two minutes of the restart, leaving the Gladbach fans who had stayed in the ground possibly regretting that decision. 

Interim Gladbach coach Eugen Polanski looked dumbfounded as he witnessed the lack of defending. For a top-flight side, it was shambolic. 

However, what transpired almost saved Polanski’s blushes and possibly gives him the most credit at full-time. Gladbach and Frankfurt seemingly reserved roles as the home side went on to score four second-half goals whilst the away side took the role of not defending. 

“During the game I was in shock,” Polanski answered when a reporter asked him what words he found for the team at the half. “It was my job at the half to tell the team that things could be different. After that lifeless first half that doesn’t work at Bundesliga level, it got a little loud at the break.” 

“That was a desolate performance by the team,” BMG sporting director Roland Virkus told Sky Germany. “We lacked everything you need in football and were rightly 0-5 down at half-time. It must be said that the team made progress after the break, but one can’t sugarcoat a game like this. [Interim head coach] Eugen [Polanski] retains our support, but we all have to take a look at this together.“

Gladbach remain winless, and bizarrely, Frankfurt have conceded eight goals in two games.

Dortmund Dominance 

Borussia Dortmund continued their unbeaten start to the season with an impressive 0-2 win away at Mainz 05. 

With the win, BVB stay second, are looking like the early contenders to Bayern, and even set a new Bundesliga record. 

Niko Kovač’s side were in the lead at half-time for the 10th league game in a row – a new milestone in Germany’s top flight.

Daniel Svensson opened the scoring for Borussia Dortmund, netting his second Bundesliga goal for his new club after capping off a fine counter-attack after Mainz’ Paul Nebel hit Gregor Kobel’s post at the other end. Karim Adeyemi then doubled Dortmund’s lead in the 40th minute after another superb counter-attack, giving BVB a 0-2 lead.

Speaking after the game, Kovač commended his team’s performance: “The team played very disciplined and organised for 90 minutes. We scored the goals at the right time and were a bit lucky with the shot that hit the post, which led us to score our first goal right afterwards. I saw a team today that finished the game the way we should on the road. We didn’t concede anything else – or at least very little. So I’m very happy and proud of the boys that they rewarded themselves with this performance.”

Around The Grounds

Union Berlin and Hamburg played out a 0-0 draw, but the main story came from the stands. Union fans were protesting the pre-match deployment of the federal police against supporters of the Berlin club. HSV fans were also protesting the late kick-off on Sunday evening, having made the two-hour train journey to the capital. Banners expressed that the late kick-off should only be reserved for those competing in European competitions. Given the notorious Deutsche Bahn delays, the protests seem justified.

FC Heidenheim secured their first win of the season as they beat FC Augsburg 2-1. FCA drop to 16th as the pressure mounts on head coach Sandro Wagner. 

Elsewhere, there were wins for Bayer Leverkusen (1-2 vs St. Pauli), RB Leipzig (0-1 vs VfL Wolfsburg), and VfB Stuttgart (1-2 vs FC Köln). SC Freiburg and TSG Hoffenheim played out a 1-1 draw. 

GGFN | Jamie Allen