Position
Kiezkicker fans have already had their money's worth this season. FC St. Pauli have provided them with top football entertainment so far. And it has not only been great football to watch, but also successful. Most of the time, anyway. In the first round of the DFB Pokal, coach Alexander Blessin's team were involved in a thrilling encounter with Regional League side Eintracht Norderstedt. The local clash, which was due to be an away match for St. Pauli, was played at the Millerntor at the request of both teams. After a goalless 120 minutes, the Bundesliga side won 3-2 on penalties. The next cracker at the start of the Bundesliga campaign: The Hamburg side were 1-0 down at the break against Borussia Dortmund in front of their own fans despite a strong performance. After equalising, Dortmund struck twice with ice-cold precision. In the exciting finale, BVB defender Mane was shown the red card for a professional foul and Danel Sinani converted the resulting penalty (85'). Four minutes later, Eric Smith scored from distance to level at 3-3. The Millerntor crowd went wild.
One week later, the big Hamburg derby was played at the Volksparkstadion. The visitors recorded an impressive 2-0 victory over HSV, and FCSP could have been won by a bigger margin. Adam Dzwigala and Andreas Hountondji scored the goals. FC St. Pauli continued their good run after the international break. The Blessin team once again showed great courage in their 2-1 win against FC Augsburg, overcoming a 1-0 deficit and turning the game around through Hountondji and Sinani. St. Pauli set a new start record: Seven points from the first three games had never before been achieved by the Hamburg team in Germany’s top flight.
St. Pauli suffered a minor setback last weekend. After four games in Hamburg, the first away trip of the season ended with a 2-0 defeat at VfB Stuttgart. The Swabians deserved the win as the defeated Boys in Brown admitted post-match. St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin was critical: "We weren't awake, we were sluggish, we had no depth, VfB took the wind out of our sails. We were too timid everywhere." And goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj said with an eye on the game against the Werkself: "We’re now focussing on the next game and we’ll have to be more energetic."
PersonNel
Nikola Vasilj has once again earned top marks in the current campaign. The keeper has not only saved two penalties, but also thwarted numerous other great chances for opposing teams. And speaking of penalties: Vasilj saved his sixth of seven penalties in the Bundesliga against Angelo Stiller in Stuttgart. No other goalkeeper, who has had at least two penalties awarded against him, can boast such a record. The 29-year-old Bosnia goalkeeper was already an absolute top performer and a bedrock for his team last season. Adam Dzwigala, Eric Smith in the centre and Hauke Wahl, who extended his contract with FCSP earlier this week, have always played in front of him in a back three in the 3-4-2-1 system. "Hauke represents the team and the club in an exemplary manner and has been an important factor on and off the pitch over the past two very successful years," said sporting director Andreas Bornemann about the contract extension. Coach Blessin is also relying on a proven duo in holding midfield. New signing Joel Chima Fujita came from Belgian club VV St. Truiden; the Japan international will play in defensive midfield alongside James Sands. Captain Jackson Irvine misses the Werkself game due to ongoing muscular problems.
There is another new player on the left: Louis Oppie was signed from Arminia Bielefeld in the summer. His counterpart on the opposite flank is Manolis Saliakas. The Greek has been a regular for the Brown and Whites for the past three years.
It is impressive how FC St. Pauli were able to cope with a number of departures, particularly up front. Morgan Guilavogui, top scorer and provider last season with six goals and two assists, returned to RC Lens. Noah Weißhaupt and Philipp Treu (both SC Freiburg) and Elias Saad (FC Augsburg) also left Hamburg. In return, St. Pauli brought in striker Andreas Hountondji from Premier League club Burnley. The 23-year-old from Benin has hit the ground running, scoring three goals so far and is the only player in the club's history to score on each of the first three matchdays of a Bundesliga season. His strike partner Mathias Pereira Lage has also impressed, even if he has yet to score. Houtondji, Pereira Lage and Fujita all have plenty of pace. The same applies to Martijn Kaars. The Dutch striker only arrived at the end of August from second division club FC Magdeburg, where he scored 19 goals last term, which made him the second-highest goalscorer behind Hamburg SV striker Davie Selke (22).
Behind the strikers, Danel Sinani has earned his regular place as a number ten. The 28-year-old Luxembourg international needed a certain amount of time to find his feet in Hamburg, but has been a fixture for Blessin since the second half of last season. Sinani already has three goal involvements (two goals, one assist) in the current campaign.
Problems
The Brown and Whites still struggle at times in defence. "Defensively, we're not yet at the same level as last season," said Hauke Wahl after the 2-0 defeat in Stuttgart. Even the once again outstanding goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj was unable to prevent the first defeat. However, FC St. Pauli also set the bar very high. Last season, the newly promoted club finished fourteenth in the table and had the second-best defence in the league behind German champions Bayern Munich. The Hanseatic side only conceded 41 goals in 34 games. However, FC St. Pauli always require maximum energy and high-intensity football to be compact in defence. "95 per cent is not enough," warned Blessin after the defeat in Stuttgart, where his team lacked power and the desire to run - covering around six kilometres less than in each of the previous three games. They also lost too many duels, said Hauke Wahl.
Performers
St. Pauli have developed enormously in their attacking play. In the previous season, the Boys in Brown still had the weakest attack in the league. That part of the squad was strengthened in the summer through shrewd transfers. The team now plays the type of football that coach Alexander Blessin has stood for since his days at RB Leipzig's youth academy: fast-paced football, transitional play and early attacks. While the Hamburg side were the slowest team in the top flight last season, they have now added a lot of speed with players such as Fujita, Hountondji, Pereira Lage and Kaars - which makes the Brown and Whites a strong counter-attacking team. Danel Sinani, the creative mastermind, has become more physical, works a lot against the ball, is a strong runner and now also a set-piece specialist. St. Pauli have scored four goals from set pieces so far. The overall quality of the squad is higher than in the first year after promotion. Blessin now has more options to rotate and he can always bring on quality from the bench.
