Boys in Brown approach Paderborn test with confidence, yet respect
Friday, 20. August 2021, 16:52 Uhr
After a weekend spent savouring the derby win over HSV, the Boys in Brown began their preparations for the trip to SC Paderborn 07 on Monday. The Schultz XI cannot afford to rest on their laurels and are under no illusions about the size of the task facing them on Saturday (13:30 CET), though they go into the game brimming with confidence.
Centre-back Jakov Medić was "overjoyed" after last Friday's defeat of our cross-city rivals. Midfielder Eric Smith said it was a "great feeling" to win the derby, a sentiment echoed by two-goal hero Simon Makienok. No question about it, the mood in the camp after the fourth victory in the last five Hamburg matchups is buoyant – and justifiably so. Medić, for whom it was the first taste of derby success, wasted no time after the final whistle to remind his teammates that they could not afford to be complacent, however. The task now, he added, was to focus entirely on the next game at Paderborn.
Head coach Timo Schultz took a similar line at the pre-match press conference despite a successful start to the season that has seen his side take seven points from their opening three league matches and progress to the second round of the DFB Cup. The Boys in Brown face another test of their credentials at Paderborn, who are also unbeaten thus far (one win, two draws), and will need a repeat of last week's performance in the derby if they are to extend their current run of form. Last season, both encounters with Saturday's opponents ended in a 2-0 reverse, meaning that Paderborn were the only team apart from Fortuna Düsseldorf to inflict two defeats on the Boys in Brown.
Nevertheless, the St. Pauli boss believes it would be a mistake to read too much into the events of last season, as so much has changed since then. Lukas Kwasniok, with whom Schultz successfully completed his coaching badge in 2018, has replaced Steffen Baumgart in the Paderborn hot seat, for example, and there have been a number of comings and goings in the two squads, too. One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the philosophy of the Schultz XI, who will again seek to play bold attacking football and press the ball with intensity on Saturday – or "run riot a bit", as Schultz put it yesterday.
His team go to Paderborn on the crest of a wave after the derby win yet full of respect for their opponents. "We saw on Sunday how difficult it's going to be against them," said Makienok earlier in the week, referring to Paderborn's stunning 4-1 victory at relegated Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen, a resounding response to the two draws against Heidenheim (0-0) and Nürnberg (2-2) and a 2-1 defeat at Dynamo Dresden in the DFB Cup. Warning enough, then, for the Schultz XI, who will need to go flat out for 90 minutes if they are to return to Hamburg with a result.
Photos: FC St. Pauli
