Holtby comfort

Hamburg's steady progression over the last few weeks is, in part, down to the new head coach Josef Zinnbauer. The 44-year-old, in the words of his own player, has energized the team after beleaguered Mirko Slomka was shown the door following a dismal start to the season that put HSV at the bottom of the table three matches into the season.

Hamburg still aren't clear of the relegation zone, but Zinnbauer has done his best to claw back the early deficit. Since his appointment, Hamburg have drawn 0-0 with Bayern, lost credibly - and harshly - against Borussia Mönchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt, respectively, before a 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund.

Now the former U-23 coach has to use his mediation skills. Rafael van der Vaart, Hamburg's experienced Dutch international, returns from the sidelines with the focus of regaining his role as the central attacking-midfielder in the team.

Since van der Vaart sustained an injury that has kept him out of the team for a month, the traditional number 10 role has been filled - and filled exceptionally well - by the younger Lewis Holtby.

Zinnbauer sees no need to prioritize one or the other, though: "Rafael and Lewis can play together," he said in the pre-match media conference before his side welcome Hoffenheim on Sunday afternoon.

Holtby faces competition

Van der Vaart's influence has been on an arresting decline in recent years, from the masterful ball-player of his Ajax and Real Madrid days, to the less effective option at Hamburg.

The 31-year-old is contracted to the club until the end of the season and has been around a burgeoning sense of discontent with several players at the club, albeit not with van der Vaart, especially, as the club grapples with its Bundesliga status.

Holtby's arrival on the scene looks to fortuitous and opportune; Hamburg need players willing to bare the weight of overfilled responsibility that comes with a club, which is so culturally connected with its European glories of yesteryear.

Still at the youthful age of 24, Holtby is, indeed, stepping up to the mark and appears to be in his element in Hamburg. Since his loan switch from Spurs, the 24-year-old has made a sharp recovery to peak fitness and has cemented an influential role as Hamburg's link between midfield and attack in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

While an attacking-playmaker by nature, the German has adapted his game well from the rapid and breathless pace of the English top flight. He already boasts the physical capabilities to facilitate Zinnbauer's preferred intensity levels in the center of the pitch.

It was that mid-block, with sharp pressing and ball turnovers, that unsettled Borussia Dortmund before the international break and bagged three points. The midfielder wasn't asked to use his energy levels to dissipate in ineffective areas of the pitch, but to prompt a quick, incisive transition from defense to attack.

A more rounded player

Holtby's evolution as a player is an interesting one, of which has been deemed to circumstance with the changing beast of modern football. After an impressive run of form at Schalke, the midfielder was gaining a reputation for being the German equivalent to Shinji Kagawa - an artistic player with the finesse to win matches in the last-third.

The dream move to the English Premier League materialized, with Spurs acting ahead of time to sign the player with an English father for just under 2 million euros. He didn't quite reach the expectations of the White Hart Lane club and was drafted out on a loan-deal to city rivals, Fulham, where he played under German, Felix Magath.

After initially agreeing a 12-month loan to Hamburg, Holtby's deal now appears to be a permanent one. By playing three matches, Hamburg have now agreed to fork out over 6 million euros to secure Holtby's talents until the end of the 2017-2018 season - which will make him one of the club's key assets in their ambitions to return to European competition.

He may have been an outsider in London, but Holtby has found kudos just across the Channel.