After another Poulsen setback: Polzin’s view on the striker situation | OneFootball

Tomorrow, Saturday, HSV will face FC Augsburg. Once again, captain Yussuf Poulsen will be absent due to injury. Coach Merlin Polzin continues to trust him nonetheless.

In the recent home game against Borussia Dortmund (1:1), Poulsen was part of the starting lineup for the first time. Surprisingly, he was nominated for the Danish national team but had to withdraw before the first World Cup qualifying match. Another long-term absence was a possibility. At the press conference, Merlin Polzin emphasized once again that it is a "minor injury."

Poulsen has already resumed training. However, the head coach did not want to give a long-term prognosis. For Poulsen, "we want and need to be especially careful to get as much out of him as possible." For the away game in Augsburg, Polzin has two alternatives available: Ransford Königsdörffer, who scored his first Bundesliga goal against BVB after a long wait, and Robert Glatzel.

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Polzin doesn't reveal his plans

Who will move into the starting lineup, Polzin did not want to answer: "We still have training tomorrow, where we will see one or two more combinations. But that's the nice thing for me, as I've often emphasized, that the profiles of our strikers are very different, and for a successful season, we will definitely need all profiles. That's why we assembled the squad this way."

Throughout the current season, Königsdörffer has always been in the starting lineup, except for the Dortmund game, while Glatzel has only had brief substitute appearances. The tendency favors the former, who, despite a nearly 700-minute goal drought, has earned the coaching staff's trust due to his high work rate and strengths in pressing.

Photo: Getty Images

Besides Poulsen, Polzin also does not have Daniel Elfadli and Warmed Omari available, both of whom have resumed training. Otherwise, he can rely on a well-stocked squad. Fábio Vieira also returns from his yellow-red suspension. Whether he will return to the starting lineup, Polzin left open, but he emphasized: "He can definitely make the difference. He has already shown that in the games and continues to show it in training."

Photo: IMAGO

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