Just 77 Bundesliga minutes: promotion hero steps in for suspended Remberg! | OneFootball

For the first time, HSV will have to do without their ever-present Nicolai Remberg against TSG Hoffenheim. Merlin Polzin has now announced a rather surprising replacement solution.

On Saturday (3:30 p.m., Sky), Hamburger SV will be forced to make a significant change. Nicolai Remberg will miss the away match due to a yellow card suspension. This is a bitter setback for HSV. After all, Remberg is the only outfield player who has not missed a single Bundesliga minute this season. So, who will replace the Hanseatic ironman in Kraichgau?

Jonas Meffert, an indispensable playmaker during the second division era and one of the promotion heroes, is expected to move into the starting eleven for the first time this season in place of Remberg – despite having played only a meager 77 minutes in the top flight so far.

For four years, Meffert was the strategic linchpin of HSV’s game. His leadership role and calm orchestration of the midfield were crucial to the team’s development. However, with promotion to the Bundesliga, priorities shifted. Coach Merlin Polzin is deliberately focusing more on physicality and dynamism in the top tier, primarily relying on Remberg, who has repaid this trust with outstanding performances so far.

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HSV: Polzin has known Remberg’s replacement “since Sunday evening”

The suspension of the in-form Remberg now presents Polzin with a challenge, but according to his own statement, he has had the solution “in mind since Sunday evening.” Although the coach did not officially reveal his lineup, his reasoning leaves no doubt: Meffert will take over. The 31-year-old thus, in a way, catches up with his direct successor.

There would have been alternative options. Nicolas Capaldo could have moved from central defense back into midfield. And Daniel Elfadli, after a muscle fiber tear, has returned to training and is back in the squad. But Polzin puts the brakes on: A starting spot for the former Magdeburg player after the break “makes no sense yet.” Meffert, on the other hand, recently gained valuable match practice in the DFB-Pokal, played almost an hour against Kiel, and gave HSV’s previously stagnant possession game some much-needed impetus.

Polzin sums up the situation perfectly: “The only problem with Meffo is that the guys before him have done a really good job.” Now Meffert gets the chance to play his way back into the minds of the coach and the fans.

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