Bright cameo: Polzin explains Poulsen's early withdrawal | OneFootball

HSV lost their first pre-season friendly at Rapid Vienna on Saturday evening. Yussuf Poulsen still caught the eye, even though he had to leave the pitch after just 33 minutes.

The captain not only scored the temporary 1-1, but also fulfilled the role envisioned for him when he was signed as a pressing player. With aggressive closing down and uncompromising challenges, he managed to win the odd ball back, including in the opposition half. Poulsen also lifted his teammates with him. The intensity clearly dropped in his absence, which Rapid Vienna immediately exploited to turn 1-2 into 3-2.

Merlin Polzin replaced his target man early on with the once again ineffective Rayan Philippe. “We knew Yussuf could play 30 minutes. Anything more would have been too much of a load,” he explained, justifying the precautionary measure (via Mopo). The coach was also pleased with Poulsen’s performance: “You could see that he is a very important part of the team — no matter how many minutes he plays or in what role.”

Photo: IMAGO

Poulsen: More progress in the next test?

The Dane himself was also satisfied with how Saturday evening went: “It was a good test. The 30 minutes were no problem, I did exactly what the doctors and physios told me. This time it was 33 minutes, next time it might already be a little more.”

He was also largely satisfied with the team’s performance: “It was a very good first half. Of course, we conceded silly goals, but what we did with the ball — we created a lot of situations where the final pass or the final bit of sharpness was missing, but that’s all fine, we’ve only been training for a week.”

Nur die Raute – All the news about HSV

The training camp beginning today, Sunday, in Oberlängenfeld, Austria, is meant to bring the next steps in development — not only for HSV, but also for Poulsen. He may even be in line for more playing time as early as Saturday in the friendly against 1. FC Heidenheim.

Photo: IMAGO

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.