"Sensational": Former HSV star heaps praise on Polzin | OneFootball

Between 2019 and 2023, Sonny Kittel played for HSV for four years. During this time, Merlin Polzin only knew him as an assistant coach.

Shortly before the renewed encounter between Hamburger SV and VfB Stuttgart, a familiar face has spoken out. Sonny Kittel, an important creative player for the Red Shorts from 2019 to 2023, has expressed remarkable appreciation for his former assistant coach and current head coach Merlin Polzin. Now 32 years old, Kittel even speaks in an interview with HSV.de of a “sensational” development of the coach.

Kittel admits that at first, he didn’t necessarily trust Polzin to make the leap from analyst and assistant coach to the main man on the sidelines. All the more impressed he is now: Polzin has not only stabilized the club, but after seven long years in the second division, has also led them back to the top flight. “If you draw the right conclusions and end up getting promoted, you really can only take your hat off,” said Kittel.

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Kittel: “HSV is something special for me”

The special closeness between the two also stems from the fact that they maintained an intensive exchange during Kittel’s time in Hamburg. Polzin, only 35 years old, is considered a detail-oriented tactician. According to Kittel, he is even a “football fanatic.” It was precisely this passion that shaped their collaboration. For the attacking player, Polzin is one of the coaches with whom he discussed the game the most.

Kittel also recalls his own farewell from Hamburg: his goal in the 2023 relegation second leg against VfB Stuttgart remained his last at the Volksparkstadion. Missing out on promotion still hurts him today, as does the end of his time at the club, with which he said he “identified 100 percent.”

While HSV will face the Swabians on Sunday without him, Kittel is currently without a club. But he still closely follows the development of his former club. “I’ve always said that Eintracht is my club, but what has developed emotionally with HSV is something special for me. I wouldn’t have thought that at first,” said Kittel.

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