Season

From eyes to teeth: Pre-season starts at HSV

Die Rothosen began their pre-season with some medical and performance checks. Douglas Santos given extra days of leave.

It all starts again: On Monday, HSV officially started their 2019/20 season today. The players met their new head coach Dieter Hecking, although it was in the gym and medical rooms and not on the pitch. First of all, there will be two days of diverse performance and medical tests in UKE Athletics centre and the HSV campus. There will be eye tests, orthopedic tests, cardio examinations and a dentist appointment to name a few. “There a clear standards provided by the DFL that every player must be up to over the course of the next year,” said HSV team doctor and UKE Athletics leader Götz Welsch on the obligatory tests and examinations, which all Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga teams must do.

David Kinsombi came on Monday for the examinations at UKE and on Wednesday will be seen on the pitch in front of eager fans.

Wednesday: Running at Volkspark

“In addition, lots of data will be collected in order to get a summary on the condition of each player, his performance and problems,” said Welsch. These include; endurance tests on the treadmill, the blood lactate test, isometric strength tests or bounce-force tests. “With these examinations, we can see the player’s athletic performance levels, which together with other examinations can form the basis of our individual training plans,” explained rehabilitation coach Sebastian Capel.

After two days of intense examinations, the doctors and coaches should have very good knowledge about the player’s conditions. The fans will then get to see the players on Wednesday at 10:00 CEST as Dieter Hecking and his team make their first lap of the training ground. Newcomers David Kinsombi (Holstein Kiel), Lukas Hinterseer and Jan Gyamerah (both from VfL Bochum), Jeremy Dudziak (FC St. Pauli) and Daniel Heuer Fernandes (Darmstadt 98) will take to the training grounds for the first time in their new HSV kit.

Douglas Santos will remain in Brazil for the next few days with his pregnant wife.

Santos given extra days off

Douglas Santos however is not back yet. The Brazilian full-back has been given a few extra days off to remain in Brazil with his expecting wife. “We want to treat our players with humanity and understand the situation of Douglas and his family. He appreciates our trust and we expect him to come back to Hamburg and the pitch as quick as possible,” said sporting director Jonas Boldt.

Other absentees include Rick van Drongelen, Vasilije Janjicic and Berkay Özcan, who were all on international duty and so have three more weeks to recover. Tatsuya Ito is currently with Japan at the Copa America. David Bates is also not present as the Scotsman is currently injured.