Many players away on international duty: curse or blessing for HSV? | OneFootball

Having many internationals in the squad is both a blessing and a curse. At the press conference ahead of the Cologne match, HSV coach Merlin Polzin revealed how he views the upcoming international break.

Not too long ago, there were still times when HSV could train with almost the entire squad despite international breaks. That is no longer the case today. Although Nicolai Remberg did not make Klopp’s first squad despite hopes that he would, numerous stars will once again be away with their respective national teams in the coming weeks.

Regardless of the outcome of the Cologne match, a three-week break like this is of course a good opportunity to iron out one weakness or another and grow even closer together as a team.

Has the break come at just the right time for HSV?

The lack of adjustment time for numerous new signings in particular is seen as one of the main reasons for Hamburg’s nightmare start. So the international break would actually be a good opportunity to make up for that. But many players will not be able to use it, as they will be away with their national teams. That also applies to the two new wing-backs, Zakaria El Ouahdi and David Møller Wolfe.

Even so, HSV head coach Merlin Polzin is looking optimistically at the chance to train more intensively from next week and work on routines again. He emphasized this on Thursday at the press conference ahead of the match against 1. FC Cologne (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.).

“The final call-ups are still to come. It will certainly be the case — and we’re proud of that — that HSV once again has numerous internationals,” Polzin said about the upcoming releases. In earlier times, that was not always the case. Usually, a maximum of three or four players would be away, whereas now it is likely to be significantly more.

Polzin wants to make up for fitness deficits

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Nevertheless, they want to use the time intensively — especially with an eye on the players who are still behind physically: “It hasn’t exactly been a secret in recent matches that we still had to manage the playing time. We want to work on that.” Of course, the goal is always to be at 100 percent right away. That also applies to the match against Cologne. Even so, Polzin wants to use the three weeks in training as well as the friendly against FC Copenhagen.

After the international break, HSV wants to show a different face against Hoffenheim. One of the biggest goals will likely be to get star signing Fabio Vieira as close to 100 percent fitness as possible. The Portuguese player is firmly planned for the starting XI, but most recently only came on as a substitute. Virtually all hopes in HSV’s attack rest on his footballing qualities.

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