Training camp

No lack of intensity on display in Helsingør

The Rothosen once again gave everything in the penultimate session of their training camp in Denmark. Read our training report.

Anyone heading out for a run in Helsingør at the moment can stop for a rather unusual kind of breather. A gravel path runs directly alongside the training pitch where Hamburger SV are currently holding their first sessions of pre-season. It is not uncommon to see the players working with the ball in the foreground while runners and walkers pass by in the back. It would have been evident to anyone in and around the training ground on Friday (10th July) just how hard the HSV squad are working.

After the warm-up, the players moved into rondos before taking part in a series of small-sided games featuring plenty of efforts on goal. The session then progressed to transition drills, with the attackers looking to make the most of an overload while the defenders tried to hold firm with fewer numbers. There was no shortage of dribbles, shots, and challenges. An 11-a-side game followed, with the level of communication throughout the team particularly noticeable. Instructions came from all over the pitch. Goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes could be heard urging the players in front of him to give everything, while Nicolai Remberg covered plenty of ground in midfield and organised those around him. “The team is full of energy,” new signing Kofi Amoako had said the previous day.

“We want to approach every drill with maximum intensity,” head coach Merlin Polzin explained. The Rothosen certainly lived up to that standard on Friday, with no one holding back. Albert Sambi Lokonga made a last-ditch clearance off the line to prevent a goal, Jordan Torunarigha won the ball back with a perfectly timed sliding challenge just outside his own penalty area, and Remberg settled the contest with a well-placed effort from outside the box that flew waist-high into the left-hand side.

There were loud celebrations from Team Blue, who then also came out on top against Team Red in a light-hearted challenge at the end of the roughly 90-minute session. The players first had to keep the ball in the air over several metres before attempting to volley it into the net. It gave the outfield players a chance to show their finishing ability and the goalkeepers an opportunity to impress. Judging by some of the strikes, a few new speed records may even have been set.

The squad then gathered in a circle for one final address, bringing the penultimate session of the Helsingør training camp to a close and providing the perfect snapshot for any runner or walker who happened to be passing by.