'Sie hätten sich statt mit den sportlichen Leistungen der Spieler mehr mit Gerüchten über diese beschäftigt.' best translation?

Question

there is this line that I read in Spiegel article, and I was wondering about the translation of it.

Sie hätten sich statt mit den sportlichen Leistungen der Spieler mehr mit Gerüchten über diese beschäftigt.

The context of this is

He also criticised his fellow journalists for the coverage after the first two matches.

My translation would be

They concerned themselves, instead of with the sporting performances of the players, more with the rumours about them.

So first off is this right? Am I right to assume the use of 'hätte' is simply as the subjunctive rather than the conditional past tense?

Thanks.

Answer 1

In the context of that particular article, Sie hätten sich ... is simply indirect speech.

I think Konjunktiv I is standard for indirect speech. But this would be indistinguishable from Indikativ (both are haben). That's why Konjunktiv II (hätten) is used here.

If the above sentence was about a single journalist, this would not apply, since Konjunktiv I (habe) is different from Indikativ (hat). In such cases, using Konjunktiv II (hätte) instead of Konjunktiv I could express disagreement with what is said in the indirect speech. But not here.