Season 26 will always stand out in Hamburg history — not because we suddenly became contenders, but because something not quite as important happened.

This was only Hamburg’s second attempt at Division 1 football in 26 seasons.

And for the first time at this level, we stayed up.

Survival was achieved.

“Season 26 wasn’t fun. It was purely about survival.”

Written Off Before Kick-Off

Pre-season projections were blunt.

Hamburg were tipped for relegation. Newly promoted survival sides rarely receive patience in Division 1, and our history offered little reassurance.

The objective wasn’t glamour football.

It was simple:

Survive. Establish a foothold.

Season 26 performance metrics later confirmed this reality:

• Hamburg finished 7th in the Manager Overachievement Table
• Expectations were massively exceeded
• Survival was achieved against all the odds

Transfer Moves

In time for the first league game of the season, we brought in what I had hoped would be important reinforcements and improvements.

Dani Parejo joined from D5 strugglers Santos with Max Arnold and James Tarkowski going to Brazil. Parejo was a +1 on Aleix Garcia, who was relegated to the subs bench after failing to have any noticeable impact as a 10.

Davide Zappacosta joined from Sassuolo with Hamari Traoré and Benjamin Bourigeaud moving to Italy. Zapp was a +1 on Hamari (who later got a -1 review).

While our results over the first half of the season were pretty good, I felt it was an opportunity to sign a marquee forward for the price of a player on my bench and another who I expected to get a -1 in the reviews (and that’s exactly what happened).

The Fault Line

Season 26 nearly collapsed because of my own decision-making.

The moment that destabilised Hamburg wasn’t fixture congestion or injuries.

It was the Sané signing.

To bring Leroy Sané in, I allowed Ferland Mendy (and Aleix Garcia) to leave as part of the exchange. This strengthened the attack. And weakened the defence.

Results dropped off a cliff. We scored plenty, but we conceded more. Bono in goal was like a drowning man trying to bale out a sinking ship with a sieve.

I brought in Spinazzola to replace Mendy, and Tadić to replace Firmino.

What finally stopped the slide wasn’t new signings, but tactical adaptation:

• Switching Sané to right wing
• Moving Greenwood to the left
• Deploying Parejo as a box-to-box midfielder, despite his natural playmaker role

It wasn’t elegant.

It wasn’t ideal.

But it worked.

We became harder to break, more balanced in transition, and just stable enough to grind out a couple of massive wins at the death.

That final sequence saved the season.

What Changed (And What Didn’t)

Hugo Ekitiké and Mason Greenwood continued to develop and excel, and I expect more from them both next season.

At season end, I brought in Thomas Partey for Spinazzola, José Gayà for Luciano Juba and Alejo Sarco, and Mario Pašalić for Tyler Adams (who I’d previously swapped for Zappacosta).

First Team Starting XIs

The Long Game Continues

With safety secured, I decided it was time to cash in Parejo and got a couple of decent youths in Luka Romero and Jordan James. Likewise, Alex Iwobi left in exchange for Marc Guiu.

While the youth squad won’t transform the first team immediately, the underlying project remains intact.

I didn’t bother listing my strongest youth XI in my last season review as it was nothing to shout about in terms of ratings. I think we were the 28th best team in the Youth Cup rankings, but somehow managed to reach the Semi-Finals.

Youth Starting XIs

Season 27 Objectives

Realistically it’s going to be all about surviving another season. We’re stronger at the start than last time, and with a bit of luck we might not lose our first three games.

We might hope to get more than 37 points by the end.

A lot will depend on our front three again, and Captain Carlos Casemiro — but we also need to tighten up at the back.