Robert Glatzel: “Extremely motivated to achieve our goal”

With 22 goals and four assists in 2021/22 and 19 goals and seven assists in 2022/23, centre forward Robert Glatzel has been a key figure in HSV’s last two seasons in the second division. No player has had a hand in more goals for the club during this time and the Munich-born striker is not just a prolific goalscorer. He has become an important leading figure within the squad and rejected offers from the Bundesliga this summer to stay in Hamburg. Ahead of the start of the new season on Friday night at home to FC Schalke 04, the 29-year-old spoke about…

...pre-season: It didn’t go perfectly because we lost a few players to injury. You can never truly carry what you’ve done in pre-season into the new campaign though. We’re back at square one on Friday. We know that we’ve brought in some good new signings. The lads have settled in quickly and we’ve gained lots of quality thanks to them.

...excitement ahead of the new season: We can’t wait, especially because of our first game – there is no better match to kick off the new season. These are the kind of games that make you love the sport and they are the reason we all became professionals. Playing these kinds of games all the time would be even better.

...opponents Schalke 04: It’s always tough to judge your opponents so early on in the season. They’ve still got a few players who were with them in the Bundesliga last season and also some who were promoted with them two seasons ago. Their coach also knows how to get promoted. Schalke 04 are definitely one of the favourites for promotion. I’m expecting a similar game to the one two years ago on the first matchday. We will have lots of possession and need to watch out for the individual quality their players possess.

“We experienced the feeling of promotion for just a few minutes and it was incredible."  

...the main target for this season: We’re extremely motivated to achieve our goal. Not getting promoted last season was hugely disappointing for us. Finishing third two years in a row really hurt us. We want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. We experienced the feeling of promotion for just a few minutes and it was incredible. I want that feeling again – but obviously for it to last this time.

...his personal targets: I want to keep on improving. There are several things that I want to work on, as well as things the coaches have spoken to me about. I think one strength of mine is that I’m pretty good at reflecting on things about myself. We have also watched some videos of me and the other strikers to see what I can do better. My aim is to score even more goals.