Tim Walter Tactics At Hamburger SV – Rotating Back-Four And A Ball-Playing Goalkeeper

After being relegated from the German Bundesliga for the first time in their history in the 2017/18 campaign, Hamburger SV appointed four managers in four seasons, trying to win the promotion to get back where they belong: the top tier.

The fifth and most recent, Tim Walter, is probably the definitive and most promising one, not only because of the results but also because of the innovative and attacking game plan that his team deploys week after week.

Season by season, they have always been too close to the third spot of the 2 Bundesliga.

Last year, under Tim Walters tactics, they finally reached third place in the table, which allowed them to play the promotion play-off with the 16th-placed team in the Bundesliga.

On that occasion, Hertha Berlin was defeated by Walters players in the first leg at home by 0-1, but they were capable of making the comeback and winning 1-2 on the aggregate in the second leg.

After a new setback, Walter stayed with the club, the first to do so for more than one season after the clubs relegation to the German second division.

They sit top of the league with an interesting-attacking style and a more solid defence.

Let’s take a look at the tactics deployed by Tim Walter.

This tactical analysis will be a team scout report on 2 Bundesliga side Hamburger SV early in the 2022/23 campaign.

Rotating back-four and use of the goalkeeper in-possession

Tim Walter has set up his team to be as mobile as possible when they start the build-up.

Daniel Heuer Fernandes, the 29-year-old goalkeeper, is a vital part of the team thanks to his tactical intelligence and short-term distribution.

The full-backs play another vital role, as do the centre-backs, because the four of them often move through the midfield and wide-central areas.

When you think of a goalkeeper being utilised in possession of the ball, you think of players like Pep Guardiolas goalkeeper Ederson, or Liverpools Alisson.

Those like to get on the ball close to his goal, trying to attract the first line of pressure, but Heuer Fernandes role goes beyond.

Almost every football match played today around the world is a 10 vs 10, with goalkeepers not being present in various phases of the game.

That makes it easier for teams to press two ball-playing centre-backs with three players or two-against-two, so Walter creates a risky but interesting plan: The goalkeeper has to play almost as another centre-back in the build-up phase of the game.

Let’s examine which areas of the pitch the German-Portuguese goalkeeper uses to develop his game in Hamburger SV.

As we can see in the example below, Heuer Fernandes is commanded to play in a high block next to his centre-backs, where he can create numerical overloads against the first line of pressure and execute through passes to make his team progress in two to three passes.

The back four is commonly composed of left-back Miro Muheim, left-centre-back Sebastian Schonlau, right-centre-back Mario Vuskovic, and right-back Moritz Heyer.

The idea of playing very high and ac