Season

One year of Merlin Polzin

The Hamburg native celebrates the one-year anniversary of his appointment as head coach at Hamburger SV. “A wonderful moment, but also a small achievement in comparison to everything we’ve got ahead of us here at HSV,” said Polzin.

It’s a special day for Merlin Polzin: On this day, exactly a year ago, 25th November 2024, Hamburg’s very own Merlin Polzin took over as head coach at HSV and is therefore able to celebrate the first anniversary of his stewardship today. Having grown up in Bramfeld, his connection to the club runs deeper than just his year at the helm. Polzin grew up a passionate supporter of the Rothosen and became a member of the club’s coaching staff in the summer of 2020. In this role, Polzin served as assistant coach to Daniel Thioune (32 games), Tim Walter (103), Horst Hrubesch (3), and Steffen Baumgart (27), before being given the hot seat after his 165 games in the technical area. Polzin therefore enjoyed a smooth transition from assistant to head coach, being able to draw on a wealth of experience gained through serving four different coaches in as many years. Including his stint as interim head coach, Polzin has so far steered the club through 35 matches, recording an average of 1.57 points per game along the way.

As well as feeling strongly connected to the club and its principles, Polzin prides himself on fostering an unbreakable team spirit and a real sense of togetherness. Currently the youngest head coach in the Bundesliga at 35, he never tires of emphasising the “we” when discussing the club, referring not only to the whole coaching team, including assistants Loïc Favé and Richard Krohn, but also the wider HSV family with everyone involved. “The year has flown by! So much has happened in that time, not just for me personally as a coach, but also for the club in general,” said Polzin, discussing his time at the helm so far. “This milestone is a wonderful moment, but also a small achievement in comparison to everything we’ve got ahead of us here at HSV.”

After achieving promotion back to the Bundesliga at the end of last season, the Rothosen find themselves further along the process but with the journey far from over, as Polzin explained: “It’s taken time to find our feet in the Bundesliga – with plenty of new faces here and our new adapted style of play, we’ve needed a while to get up to a level where we can compete week in, week out. We’ve been able to accomplish that in phases, but we’ve often struggled to keep it up across the whole 90 minutes. We’re very self-critical in this respect. The boys are working hard every day to improve their own game, but also that of all their teammates. It’s absolutely crucial for me that you’re a model teammate here. A good teammate isn’t just the player who congratulates his colleague when they score. It’s about being there for each other in those difficult moments. These boys do that unbelievably well.”

With this kind of mentality baked into the ethos at the club, the Rothosen are hoping to overcome obstacles together this season, just as they did in the previous campaign. After a bitter 1-0 defeat in Augsburg, Polzin and the squad are eagerly looking ahead to this Sunday’s home game against VfB Stuttgart, the next opportunity to try and make their way up the Bundesliga table. The affair at the Volksparkstadion will mark his 201st game on the touchline for HSV, with 36 at the wheel as the team’s head coach.