“The third room”: is this where HSV’s success begins? | OneFootball

HSV’s sporting rise over the past year and a half is often explained by bold decisions, a clear playing philosophy, and the fresh approach of coach Merlin Polzin.

But part of this success story apparently begins far away from the training ground. In an inconspicuous room in Polzin’s apartment, numerous binders are stored, filled with notes from more than a decade of coaching work. His partner had often asked him why these documents were even still being kept, the 35-year-old now explained to Bundesliga.de. After all, he “never looks at them again anyway.” In fact, the opposite is true. To this day, the HSV coach regularly goes back to his old notes.

“I’m a big believer in writing things down in coaching and looking at those notes again and again,” Polzin explains. Even insights from his time as an assistant coach of an U17 team occasionally give him new ideas for his work today. The binders, which are kept next to the bedroom and living area “in the third room” of the Polzin apartment, are part of his continuous learning process.

Photo: IMAGO

Polzin is the father of HSV’s success

This meticulous approach is also reflected in the Rothosen’s daily match and training work. Polzin is regarded as a coach who places great value on details while also looking for creative ways to reach his team. For example, before home matches he had his players walk through the empty Volksparkstadion to strengthen their connection to their own arena. Other ideas were developed together with staff members or players, who were deliberately involved in decision-making processes.

HSV’s promotion and their confident survival in the division afterward should therefore not be seen merely as the success of a former fan and Hamburg native. Rather, behind it is the work of a coach who has developed and questioned his methods over many years. And to this day, looking back still helps him.

Sometimes it even makes him smile. When Polzin reads in old notes that, at 23, he was upset that the marker cones in training were not all the same color, he now thinks: “The kinds of problems I thought I had back then.”

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