Marked for Nicolás Capaldo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by RB Leipzig, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Fábio Vieira in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hamburger SV this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market28 Sep 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolás Capaldo wants continental football; whether Hamburger SV can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Hamburger SV training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Heuer Fernandes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Warmed Omari gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.41 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 4‑6, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Fábio Vieira in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hamburger SV this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Hamburger SV training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Heuer Fernandes is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Nicolás Capaldo
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market14 Sep 2026
Hamburger SV shop where it costs nothing
Rodrigo Vera Cardozo signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
233 appearances across 9 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Hamburger SV know what they have.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Heuer Fernandes and Hamburger SV agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Fábio Vieira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Hamburger SV heard it as anything else.
Market3 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Hamburger SV training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rayan Philippe is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.