Good run: How Polzin quickly made HSV ready for the Bundesliga | OneFootball

The preparations for the new season had just ended when some HSV fans already sensed trouble ahead. The results were not good, and the performances were even more worrying. HSV was reeling, defending poorly, and making too little impact going forward.

Then came the 0-0 draw in Gladbach. A bright spot? Not necessarily, if you watched Gladbach afterwards. Meanwhile, HSV took a beating in Munich, lost the city derby before that, and, to be honest, never really stood a chance. Three games, one point, zero goals. Ouch! That hit hard at first. But in Hamburg, patience was not lost. On the contrary, they looked at what still needed to be done to improve.

And lo and behold. Three matchdays later, HSV has made the leap into the top 10 of the league, just collected seven points from three games, and kept a clean sheet twice in a row. This is due to many factors, such as late signings. But also to the coach.

Polzin pushes the team to peak performance

Now, Merlin Polzin certainly hasn’t reinvented football, but he has created a framework that allows HSV players to act more compactly and have better balance in their own game. The victory over Heidenheim came at exactly the right time, even though it was a nail-biter, and that, of course, also plays a role. For Polzin, it was already clear during preseason that HSV would have to suffer at the start of the season and that they simply had to get through this period. The Heidenheim match was therefore declared a kind of fate game, which was to mark the beginning of a positive development.

But honestly, the instructive games were also partly responsible for the development. HSV was shown—sometimes brutally—where their own mistakes and problems lay. And Polzin is now trying to eliminate these step by step with his team. Recently, Hamburg has played more aggressively, pressed the opponent earlier, but did not lose sight of their own spatial organization behind. The Red Shorts are more alert, and Polzin has managed to achieve a stronger focus.

Photo: Getty Images

And: The better balance and structure ensure that their own attacks and counterattacks can be executed more effectively. They simply start with a better foundation. This is extremely important for HSV, as their counterattacks at the start of the season were sometimes disastrous. In short: Polzin has adjusted several levers and thus managed to improve the entire team in all aspects. If this development continues, things are looking very good for HSV.

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