"Harsh words" at Bayern thrashing: Polzin rages during half-time | OneFootball

HSV had to endure a clear defeat at FC Bayern. Especially in the first half, they showed no resistance at all, which greatly displeased Merlin Polzin.

His team was already trailing 0:4 after just 29 minutes and could have gone into the break with an even bigger deficit. Accordingly, it got loud in the locker room. “Of course, there were some harsh words at halftime. You simply cannot present yourself like that. Our halftime talk was important, and we filled it with substance,” reported goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes after the match (via Bild).

Sporting director Stefan Kuntz, who visited the team at halftime, explained in more detail what Polzin told the team: “Merlin asked whether they would feel good walking through Hamburg later on Sunday. Whether they couldn’t show more commitment, more courage.” Indeed, HSV appeared more combative after the break, although FC Bayern certainly eased off a bit with an eye on the upcoming Champions League match against Chelsea.

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Kuntz sees a lot of work ahead for Polzin

However, the Hanseatic team won’t be able to afford a performance like the first half even against weaker opponents. “We wanted to be solid defensively, but that doesn’t mean we wanted to be passive. We wanted to defend actively. We didn’t manage that at all in the first half, and we didn’t disrupt their rhythm,” Kuntz emphasized. FC Bayern showed consistently what happens when HSV acts inattentively.

From Kuntz’s perspective, this weakness is fairly easy to fix: “Being alert sometimes helps more than high quality. Always knowing what’s happening around you. You don’t have to train that. Every player can bring that to the table.” In addition, HSV “needs to develop more motivated routines in their interplay,” which is where Polzin will be needed. His team is still waiting for their first goal of the season and created only a few chances. Improvement should ideally come in the upcoming home match against bottom-placed Heidenheim.

(Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

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