"Almost a freak": Former HSV star raves about Polzin! | OneFootball

The surprising yet convincing 2-2 draw against FC Bayern has earned HSV coach Merlin Polzin a lot of praise across Germany.

Sky expert Lothar Matthäus spoke of a “fully deserved point,” and HSV legend Horst Hrubesch predicted a great future for the young coach. The club would have “a lot of joy” with both Polzin and his assistant coach Loic Favé in the coming years.

Indeed, the chosen match plan against the German record champions worked exceptionally well. The aggressive man-to-man defense of the Munich side was repeatedly outmaneuvered by the Red Shorts through frequent positional changes and bold offensive advances by the defensive players. “We knew that the opponent works in a man-oriented way and thus leaves spaces. We wanted to open those up through movement and activity. The plan was to send people forward,” explained goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes afterwards.

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Kittel talks about shared HSV past

How meticulously Merlin Polzin and his team prepared for the duel with FC Bayern likely came as no surprise to Sonny Kittel. After all, Polzin worked as assistant coach at HSV for a total of three years during Kittel’s time at the club. “We talked about football for hours every day,” the playmaker reported at At Broski during the Spobis Conference in Hamburg. “Merlin is someone who is just as detail-obsessed as I am.” In the way Polzin engages with the game, he is “almost a freak,” said Kittel.

The verdict from Florian Plettenberg was even more exuberant. The Sky journalist, also a guest on the talk show, sang true praises for the Hamburg native: “I am deeply impressed by him. Rarely have I been so impressed by such a young coaching personality.” Should HSV manage to stay in the league this season, Plettenberg believes the 35-year-old is capable of almost anything. The transfer expert even bet that, in that case, Polzin would become “a truly great coach.”

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