Kuntz admits: If we hadn’t been promoted, I’d probably have left | OneFootball

In his first year as sporting director, Stefan Kuntz led HSV back to the Bundesliga. But things could have turned out very differently.

There is a new sense of optimism at Hamburger SV following their successful promotion. This is due in no small part to sporting director Stefan Kuntz, who spoke with unusual openness about pressure and doubt in his job in an interview published by WELT and Sport Bild.

Kuntz, who promoted then-assistant coach Merlin Polzin to head coach at the end of 2024, looks back on this bold decision with pride: “At the end of the decision-making phase, I also listened to my gut feeling and made Merlin the head coach. It was the right and a very good decision.”

But the 62-year-old also admits how great the personal risk was. “If it hadn’t worked out with Merlin and promotion, then I probably would have left—or would have had to leave,” said Kuntz. “In our job, you can’t sugarcoat anything, I’m well aware of that.”

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Kuntz explains decision in favor of Polzin

The former U21 national team coach, who celebrated two European Championship titles with the DFB juniors, described again how he found out in just four weeks that Polzin was the right man for the promotion mission: “I watched how he interacted with the team, how he prepared games, and how he spoke in the locker room.”

There were also talks with other coaches, but ultimately Polzin convinced “in terms of content” and with his closeness to the team. Thanks to his many years as an assistant coach, the 34-year-old was familiar with almost all the leading players.

The start to the Bundesliga season has also been successful after initial problems. HSV now sits in eleventh place in the table and seems to have arrived in the top flight. Despite the recent upswing, Kuntz urges caution: “This is just a snapshot, nothing more. We still need around 30 points to achieve our goal: staying in the league.”

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