‘Perhaps not his strength’ – Why Dompé had to wait so long | OneFootball

A first friendly is generally marked by lots of substitutions. At HSV, it was striking how late an established player like Jean-Luc Dompé got his chance.

It was not until the 77th minute that the coaching staff led by Merlin Polzin made their ninth and final substitution. Dompé replaced youngster Louis Lemke. Even before the promotion hero, attacking youth players such as Jannes von Diczelski and Thierry Sedlatschek — both still completely inexperienced in professional football — had also come on. A notable development that reflects the promotion hero’s year, which has so far been almost a complete sporting failure.

Because of his drink-driving incident in January and his unconvincing performances afterward, he lost his status as a key player internally and was no longer used at all in the final matches of the past season. Now Lemke was preferred on the left flank, with Merlin Polzin pointing to the 3-4-2-1 system he has chosen, which provides for only one wing-back in the wide positions (via Bild): “It’s a position where you have to run up and down a lot. That may not be his strength.”

Photo: Getty Images

Polzin: Praise for the youngsters is also criticism of Dompé

After the substitution, Rayan Philippe, who had previously played as a striker, moved into Lemke’s position, while Dompé took up the left-sided number 10 role. He was unable to make any notable impact. According to the report, the Frenchman had also stood out in training sessions so far mainly because of discussions with his teammates. In addition, his fitness metrics in the performance tests were said to be in the lower range.

“The guys who came on before him put in good performances. Then, as a coach, you assess that and use the players accordingly,” Polzin said tellingly. Referring to Lemke, who slotted in impressively, he added: “Louis played a bit more, and he earned that.”

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The 16-year-old is also likely to get regular minutes in the upcoming friendlies and, with good performances, could even establish himself in the professional squad. As for Dompé, who is still under contract until 2027, it is increasingly doubtful whether another will be added to his 113 competitive appearances for HSV so far.

Photo: IMAGO

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