Success against the Netherlands, smack against Spain, trembling win against Latvia. The German team has experienced a mixed EM so far. Is everything bad now? Not at all. There is enough reason to hope, says DHB Vice President Bob Hanning.
Photo series with 12 pictures
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The group phase is over, but we can only be partially satisfied with the performance shown by our team. The new division of roles in the hierarchy within the team has not been completed. Some players still have to find their position, especially in the back room. I am very self-critical of the team and admire the openness with which they also work it up in public.
In general, some team parts do not yet function as we would like them to. It starts in the gate. We need a higher individual quota for our two goalkeepers. One has become world champion, the other European champion. Both are excellent goalkeepers with a professional attitude. Everyone knows what they can do. Now it is not a matter of struggling for long, but of holding.
Kai Häfner is now challenged
In defense, Hendrik Pekeler and Patrick Wiencek must be even more bosses. We need more toughness and determination in defense. In the front, many players have different responsibilities than they were used to from previous tournaments.
Take Kai Häfner, for example. At the European Championships 2016 and the World Cup last year, he was nominated and played behind established types. Now he is there from the start and is himself in the front row. In addition to Kai, Paul Drux is of course required as a playmaker. He played his best game against Latvia and was rightly a player of the game. He also benefited from Julius Kühn, who helped with easy goals. Uwe Gensheimer also had the necessary sovereignty in the final.
A funeral atmosphere
What I want to say: Not everything was bad. We played well against Latvia for 45 minutes. After that it was weak. That’s why I don’t just want to talk about construction sites, even though we obviously have to improve many things. And everyone has to start with themselves. Nobody is allowed to hide behind the team.
If we do that, we have a good chance of winning against the Belarusians. If we can do that, we have to improve again to defeat the Croatians. Only then can we reach the semi-finals. I will not reduce the expectations of the team. Why too? We should set high goals for ourselves, and if we don’t achieve them, it’s okay if we’ve given everything. Because TEAM does not stand for “Great, someone else does it”, but for “Total commitment of all players”.
What can help us do this is the mood in Vienna. In Trondheim we sometimes felt like we were at a funeral. We were used to something different from the World Cup last year. Many German fans will accompany us in Vienna, which will give us strength and motivation.
Yours Bob Hanning
All further information on the European Handball Championship can be found here.
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