Boldt: “It’s interesting to see how players are doing”

Jonas Boldt, director of sport at HSV, is a silent observer at almost every training session during the club’s training camp in Grassau, checking on the progress of the new-look team after five new signings and eight departures. “We’re really happy with how things have gone so far,” explained the 39-year-old when speaking to the press on Sunday afternoon (4/7) about the transfer market. He also added that the club are still looking for potential new signings.

Jonas Boldt discussed...

...his first impressions of the new signings: They are all getting stuck in and looking to impress, although you could notice they were slightly tired yesterday due to the high intensity. Otherwise, you can see their strengths. Jonas Meffert, for example, knows exactly what the coach wants, is familiar with the league and his teammates having played against them in the past. It’s almost like he’s not new – he’s integrated really quickly. It’s similar for Sebastian Schonlau. Then there are players like Maxi Rohr and Anssi Suhonen who are doing well and freshening things up with their youth. At the end of the day though, we’re in the middle of pre-season and we can’t get carried away. There’s three weeks to go to make sure we’re ready for the start of the season.

...more signings: As things stand, we’re really happy with what we’ve done on the transfer market so far. We’re always keeping an eye on the market still and we’ve noticed how it’s tough for all clubs, especially considering the lack of activity. In light of that, we’ve done well to bring in players that fit our team. Nonetheless, we’re still keeping busy. Michael Mutzel and the scouts are working incredibly hard to find players. We will definitely do some more business.

...the strike force: Robert Glatzel is definitely a striker that can get a healthy amount of goals. His corona infection was thankfully really mild and he’s raring to go now. In an ideal world, he will pass the tests with the doctors and be able to join our training camp. Manuel Wintzheimer and Robin Meißner are also both dangerous strikers in their own way, especially when you consider their goals per minute ratios. Nevertheless, we still want to add improvements to this position and we’re looking at players.

...possible departures: No player is unsellable at HSV. During a training camp, it’s always interesting to see how players are doing and how they will fit in under a new coach. You have to see how a player behaves when they’re not first choice. They could deal with it well and try to fight their way back into the team or want a change. A lot can happen before the 31st August.