Hamburger SV captain Rafael van der Vaart has admitted that his side failed miserably to defend collectively in Saturday's 6-2 defeat against Borussia Dortmund.
Thorsten Fink's side came back from 2-0 down to level early in the second half at Signal Iduna Park, but Dortmund ran riot in the closing stages to win comfortably, scoring four times in the last 25 minutes.
Van der Vaart has insisted that the whole team must be accountable for a poor defensive record, with 15 goals conceded in five Bundesliga games so far this season.
He told the Bundesliga's official website: "Dortmund are so strong, break so quickly and play so well between the lines. As the opponent you always have to put them under pressure, but we just didn't do that enough,
"It could easily have been 9-2 like last season against Bayern. Put simply, we're conceding far too many. You can't just blame those sorts of defeats on the defence.
"You have to question the whole team. All eleven players have to defend and fulfil their responsibilities at the back as one. We have to be more stable."
Hamburg have won just once so far this season and sit 15th in the Bundesliga after five matches, a single point above the drop zone.
Liam Power
