Season

Glatzel aiming to start as HSV prepare for Münster clash

The striker will be hoping to make a big impact in his first home game of the season against the newly promoted side. As a new week of training got underway for the Rothosen, three members of the squad worked on their comeback from injury.

It is common knowledge that Robert Glatzel is a certified goal-getter. Over his last three 2. Bundesliga campaigns, the striker has found the net 63 times in total and was crowned the league’s top-scorer last season with 22 goals. Glatzel is not only known for his reliability in front of goal, but also for his endurance. The Munich-born attacker made 94 consecutive appearances in the second tier of German football until his streak came to an end on matchday 27 of the 2023/24 season. Nonetheless, Glatzel remains the most-capped active player in the 2. Bundesliga.

That’s why the start to this year has been all the more frustrating for the 30-year-old, who only missed a game against Fürth and the subsequent encounter with Kaiserslautern last time round. Glatzel tore a ligament in his lower leg during pre-season and missed the majority of the Rothosen’s preparations for the new season, as well as the opening match against relegated 1. FC Köln (2-1) and the stalemate with Hertha BSC (1-1) as a result. Now, “Bobby” is fully fit and raring to go, having come off the bench in both the commanding DFB-Pokal victory against SV Meppen (7-1) and last week’s disappointing defeat in Hannover (1-0). HSV’s dangerman is aiming to play for more than 15 or 20 minutes when he makes his first appearance at the Volksparkstadion this weekend against Preußen Münster. Ideally, Glatzel is hoping to be named in the starting XI for the showdown with Sascha Hildmann’s side: “Next week, he’ll either get the chance to start, or play for longer than he did against Hannover,” said head coach Steffen Baumgart optimistically after HSV’s loss last weekend.

Three players working on comeback

The 52-year-old met Glatzel alongside 18 other outfield players and four goalkeepers at the start of a new week of training. Among the participants in Monday’s session were Bilal Yalcinkaya and Matheo Raab, whose workloads are being increased following their recent absences through illness. Bakery Jatta, Jean-Luc Dompe and Daniel Elfadli all trained with rehabilitation coach Sebastian Capel as they work their way back to full fitness. Baumgart spoke to journalists about the latter, who had a ball back at his feet again, after the session: “I’m happy that he’s back in action again. Now, it’s a case of how comfortable he feels out there on the pitch. We’ll see how he reacts to an increased workload over the next few days. It would be nice to have him back in full training during the international break.” The same applies for speedy winger Jean-Luc Dompe, who recently went back to France to complete a rehabilitative programme. “He did well and is feeling less pain now,” noted Baumgart. “We’ve also got to wait and see how he does when we ramp things up and try and get him back to full fitness.”

William Mikelbrencis, Nicolas Oliveira, Fabio Balde, Omar Sillah and Luis Seifert were all absent from team training, though the quintet were all involved in the U21 side’s 5-2 win against Teutonia Ottensen on Sunday and worked on their rehabilitation. Midfielder Jonas Meffert’s workload is being managed as he completed an individual session at the Rothosen’s training centre. “We’re hoping that Meffo will be back in full training tomorrow,” stated HSV’s head coach. He continued by saying that it’s important to individually tailor each player’s workload and treat players returning from injury with care. “In some cases, we just have to be patient. We’ve got a really good squad, and you have to find ways to adapt when there are injuries. It’s the same story at other clubs.” It makes the return of Robert Glatzel, who has played in 101 of a possible 105 2. Bundesliga matches for HSV, bagging 63 goals in the process, even sweeter. For the Rothosen’s go-to man in front of goal, Saturday can’t come soon enough.