By Sportswriter Oliver Trust
BERLIN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Seven points away from safety, the German Bundesliga founding member Hamburger SV is turning things inside out to escape relegation.
The side is the only Bundesliga club that has never been relegated since the German leagues started 55 years ago in 1963.
The 27th round of matches this season is said to be the last chance for the Hanseatic club to create a miracle by beating Hertha BSC and start on a winning run.
Although fans have almost given up hope, the club has surprised everybody by completely changing the team's tactical approach and appointing former youth coach Christian Titz as the third first team coach this season.
While Markus Gisdol and Bernd Hollerbach counted on a solidly defensive style, the side's latest training sessions looked like a workshop for goal scoring. Titz used flip-charts on the training pitch to explain the new strategy. The team spent most of the time trying to find solutions in front of the goal.
"The club decided to try my idea of an attacking ball-possession orientated football. We were successful with that with the amateur team," Titz commented.
In his first steps, the 46-year-old promoted 22-year-old South Korean Young-Jae Seo and 20-year-old Japanese Tatsuya Ito to the first team while several established performers left out.
The new approach has sparked a media debate as Hamburg has the worst goal-scoring record in the whole league, 18 goals in 26 matches.
The Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung called it a witchcraft project should Titz succeed trying to implement a demanding attacking system within only four days.
Other media are reporting that Titz will get only one try to create a miracle. The Hamburg-based Morgenpost is assuming the Berlin game is "Titz' first and last chance."
Next to Titz former Hamburg striker Thomas von Heesen, 56, was appointed as co-advisor. The duo intends to create a new mood in the squad. "Football is decided in the players' heads, it is a mind case," Titz emphasized.
Last desperate attempt or sensible experiment? The side's ambitious rescue mission seems to be creating a pioneering spirit.
Despite the mission outcome remaining uncertain, the fans optimism has come alive again after club was said to be virtually dead and buried.
The number of spectators is growing, the city's newspapers are full of optimistic comments and the new coach is full of confidence despite having never coached a first division team before.
The club is expecting a crowd of over 50,000 HSV supporters are planning to cheer the team and coach on the way to the arena by lining up along the streets. The supporters' club and a local fan community, made an appeal "to stand together a last time and give everything to cheer the team to victory."
Now it is up to Titz and Von Heesen to succeed with their mission impossible. Both are entirely dedicated to offensive football. Von Heesen is Hamburg's second best scorer having scored 99 goals for the club from 1980 to 1994.
The new coach has made a name for himself by writing several books with titles such as "perfect shooting techniques" and "successful dribblings and tricks to get past defenders."
