Season

Polzin: "We are on the right track"

HSV head coach Merlin Polzin may not have been able to celebrate last Friday night’s win with the team in person, but he gained valuable new insights into his side nonetheless.

Last Friday night, due to a bout of flu, Merlin Polzin was restricted to sitting and watching his team’s 3-0 win over 1. FC Kaiserslautern from his own sofa instead of in the dugout at the Volksparkstadion. Therefore, he was all the more pleased to be returning to the training pitches at the Volkspark on Tuesday (25th February). A wheezy voice did not hold Polzin back from resuming team training, after which he discussed his alternative perspective on Friday night’s win as well as what he thinks makes this team so special.

It was precisely this realisation that Polzin gained on Friday evening, due to being at home rather than in the stadium as the result of a bout of flu. “I’ve mainly had to be in bed the last few days – it was a bit more than a standard cold,” Polzin croakily told the media after the first training session of the week.

“Flu is one of things that you just have to see out but I’m feeling fit and ready to help the team again now.” Polzin was not feeling quite so great last Friday and so was happy to let assistant coaches Loic Fave and Richard Krohn (photo) take charge of the home game against the Red Devils. “I know that Loic and Richard will do a better job at 100% than I would when I’m ill and we always work closely together on everything anyway.”

Polzin watched on from his own home as a result, just noting one or two things to match analyst Eduard Riesen. “I have full faith in the team and the coaching staff, so didn’t see any need to give anything more than a couple of pointers. I saw us implementing the things we’ve worked on to good effect.” The result of that good work was an evening that could not have gone much better from a HSV point of view inside a sold-out Volksparkstadion. The coach experienced the joyous occasion from an unfamiliar perspective, sat in front of the TV: “The noise, the energy, the choreos and even the pitch created such an amazing spectacle. Of course, it was frustrating that I couldn’t be there. However, I had the do the same as what I expect from my players if they aren’t feeling fully fit and that is step aside and put the team first. I made that decision with full confidence in Loic, Richard and the team.”

Polzin was far from excluded from proceedings however, especially after full time when it was decided to put the head coach on video call so he join in the team huddle. “I was fully focused on the game,” Polzin reported regarding this moment. “The noise in the stadium made it quite hard to hear anything but that didn’t matter.”

“It was lovely to be included and made me feel really good. I also realised in that moment that we are on the right track, so it had a real significance for me.” Although Polzin was able to virtually take part in the team huddle thanks to the video call, he will be all the more pleased when he is able to take charge of the team in person once again. HSV travel to face Paderborn next time out, coming off the back of five consecutive away matches unbeaten and bolstered by the return of their head coach.