Season
04.12.24
Squad update as preparation for Darmstadt begins
On Wednesday, the Rothosen began their preparation ahead of the home match against Darmstadt 98. While some of the U21 players were absent as they readied for action with HSV II in the evening, Meffert returned to full team training.
On Wednesday, the Rothosen took to the Volksparkstadion pitch for the first training session of the week after having Tuesday off. After a convincing 3-1 victory away at Karlsruher SC, which not only ended the team’s winless streak but also propelled them up to second spot in the standings, the HSV players took to the field in high spirits and ready to get down to work. Interim coach Merlin Polzin, who took charge of the team for the second time in Karlsruhe, registering his first win, led the session as he had done throughout the previous week. “We don’t want to disturb the good rhythm that we’ve got at the moment, so Merlin Polzin and his coaching staff will once again take charge against Darmstadt. He and his team have earned it,” board member Stefan Kuntz emphasised to the media on Monday, explaining that the Hamburg-born coach will also take charge of the preparations for the home game against the Lilies alongside U21 coach Loic Fave and his assistant Richard Krohn, for what will be Polzin’s first game in charge at the Volksparkstadion.
Reis completes running session as Meffert returns and U21 players head off for fourth-tier action
On Wednesday, the 34-year-old coach welcomed 21 outfield players and four goalkeepers to training. With the exception of long-term absentees Robert Glatzel and Ludovit Reis, who returned to running at the training centre for the first time since injury, only Valon Zumberi (individual recovery training) and U21 players Hannes Hermann, Nicolas Oliveira, Bilal Yalcinkaya, Otto Stange and Anssi Suhonen, who will face SV Meppen with HSV II in the fourth division this evening, were absent.
Loic Fave will take charge of the U21s’ match, with Polzin and other members of the coaching staff watching on. Before that, however, the interim coach led a varied 90-minute training session, once again featuring a mix of focused drills and the necessary low-intensity work. HSV youngsters Luis Klatte, Lukas Bornschein and Milad Nejad bolstered the squad for training. The latter was training with the senior HSV players for the first time and, as the newcomer, had to run through a ‘teammate tunnel’ at the beginning of the session. After a warm-up in three groups, two ten-minute rondos followed, which midfielder Jonas Meffert was able to take part in again after suffering from an arm injury and therefore being absent in Karlsruhe. The rondos were characterised by quick passing sequences as well as high intensity. The players were also very vocal throughout. It was a similar trend during the 11-a-side game to round things off, which started with play on just three quarters of the pitch, then across two pitches. ‘Meffo’ was also included in these. The Rothosen have three training sessions remaining before they face the Lilies, with the next commencing on Thursday at 11:00 CET.