“We want to show what playing the HSV way should mean”

There was an unusual line-up in the press conference room at the Volksparkstadion this Friday (6th December). Alongside press officer Philipp Langer and coach Merlin Polzin, chairman Stefan Kuntz also took his place on the podium at the pre-match interview. The 62-year-old did so to inform the present journalists that for the time being, Merlin Polzin will remain in his position as HSV head coach and will remain in charge until at least the winter break. The 35-year-old interim coach took to the touchline for the first time in Karlsruhe last weekend and led the side to a convincing 3-1 victory. Next up on Matchday 15 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga 2 season is a home fixture against SV Darmstadt 98. For Hamburg native Polzin, this will constitute his home debut as the Rothosen’s interim head coach, which, as he explained, makes it particularly special. However, Polzin stayed true to his nature and elected to focus on the team and the upcoming game, going into detail about...   

...squad news: As we were aware, Jonas Meffert still had relatively significant problems with his arm. He was able to step up his workload this week and participated in almost every session. We’re yet to reach a final decision in terms of what we will do on Sunday. We’ve got great squad depth, but also extreme quality within it. We need the lads to be at 100 percent. “Meffo” knows that too, because he’s an exemplary player and always acts in the best interests of the team. Davie Selke is back to full fitness. We managed his workload a bit at the start of the week but were gradually able to increase this. Davie’s hugely important to this team. Both on and off the pitch, he’s a great role model and leader. 

...his expectations for the game: It will be a very intensive game in terms of challenges and how much momentum they will bring into the match. That said, it will also be a game in which we want to show who we are and what playing the HSV way should mean. This team has been really exciting in the last few years, and we want to bring that back onto the pitch. The lads are a real unit and are all on the same page. We’ve got a clear plan in mind and have worked on pressing and attacking patterns this week, amongst other things. I hope people enjoy watching HSV play. I saw this enjoyment in Karlsruhe and sensed it on the pitch. We want to reintroduce the strongest aspects of our game back into our play. Excluding the away end, the whole stadium is going to be up for it, and I’m really looking forward to it. I want to make this ground a fortress once again.

"I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t tingling with excitement and that I can hardly wait until the referee blows the first whistle." 

...the opponents from Darmstadt: Their last few games have been really chaotic, and it’ll be another fierce fixture on Sunday. We’re facing a team which has been very defensively stable in their last matches, and which has also been very threatening up front, particularly thanks to their physical strikers. They also possess a very clear tactical plan which Florian Kohfeldt has successfully worked on over a long period and which is clearly recognisable. We watched them play in the cup in Bremen in midweek and you could see aspects of those tactics. They changed it up a little bit, which means we will be prepared for any scenario that comes our way on Sunday. 

...his home debut as head coach: It’s a huge responsibility which the coaching staff and I deeply cherish. It’s important to note that I’m not in this alone – I've got some fantastic lads by my side in Loic and the rest of the coaching staff. Of course it’s something special for me. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tingling with excitement - I can hardly wait until the referee blows the first whistle. At the same time, we’re in a situation where we’re facing off against strong opposition and we haven’t been picking up the desired results in recent times, apart from last week. We want to put in a performance on Sunday that makes people say that their visit to the stadium was worthwhile. That’s our goal.