Season

Focus, energy, key points

HSV have completed their first training sessions as part of their training camp in Spain. Afterwards, head coach Merlin Polzin spoke about the trip, the training sessions and the squad.

Hamburger SV travelled to Spain on Sunday (30th March) for a four-day training camp ahead of the business end of the season. On Monday, the team took to the pitch at RCD Mallorca for their first 90-minute session. “After having a day off, the lads usually need a bit before they get back into it. That definitely wasn’t the case today. The sun and training ground played a part in giving us a lot of energy. I really liked what I saw,” head coach Merlin Polzin said to the press afterwards. The 34-year-old added, “Over the winter, we thought about what steps would be necessary in order to be as successful as possible. On our list was a training camp just like this. We hope that it will help us grow closer as a team and that we will be able to make clear how we want to play and how we want to interact with each other away from the pitch. The club were open to organising it and offered us their full support. The lads have also been receptive, which was also important to me.”

This energy was clear to see as HSV took to the training pitch ahead of Saturday’s league games against 1. FC Nürnberg. While the session was underway, Aboubaka Soumahoro and Dennis Hadzikadunic worked individually with athletic coach Sebastian Capel. Fabio Balde took part in team training, while Immanuel Pherai missed training due to illness. “We wanted to focus on tangible things. Towards the end of the season, it’s common to start talking about specific targets. That’s normal in football. We’ve already been able to experience that in the past, that the pressure in Hamburg only keeps getting bigger. It was important to us to get away from all that in order to bring a different energy into the team and to continue to define ourselves by tangible goals. We have set clearly defined goals for individual players, specific positions and the team for the coming weeks. These aren’t related to picking up three points at the weekend, but focus instead on continuing to develop our style of play.”

Focus on Schonlau and a trio of strikers

Of the specific positions within the team, one of them involves the centre-backs. Following a shoulder injury to Hadzikadunic, captain Sebastian Schonlau could be called upon to fill in this coming weekend. “The game in Nuremberg could come too soon for Dennis. I’m glad to have someone like Bascho to rely on. The team and I know that we can depend on him 100%,” Polzin said. “Bascho has accepted our decision, which wasn’t easy. He was very self-critical, but then threw himself into his work and has tried to get back into the time in this manner. He’s definitely ready for the upcoming game.”

Robert Glatzel, Davie Selke and Ransford Königsdörffer are also all hoping to be on the pitch on Saturday evening, with the three centre-forwards all competing for a spot in Polzin’s preferred 4-3-3. “We have clearly defined principles and expectations ahead of every game. Of course it makes sense to consider which of our three excellent strikers are the best fit. We won’t exhaust ourselves trying to make everyone happy, but instead have an idea of how we want to play,” Polzin explained. In order to continue developing this, the Rothosen are working hard both on the pitch, in meetings and in the video room while in Spain. The team then have the afternoon and evening free, “within the boundaries of professionalism,” as Polzin emphasised. The focus is on strengthening the team spirit through joint padel games and other activities, one of many ways in which the team hope to make the most of their mini training camp.