Polzin: “A really intense cup clash”

The action is coming thick and fast for Hamburger SV this week, who will be following up Saturday’s home game over VfL Wolfsburg with a trip to Heidenheim on Tuesday before doing battle with fellow promoted side 1. FC Köln on Sunday. It’s an intense but exciting time for the Rothosen, who left for Baden-Württemberg on Monday afternoon. Before the team headed off on their travels, head coach Merlin Polzin took part in a media round. Polzin discussed...

... his expectations for the cup game: I’m convinced that we’re going to see a really intense cup clash in Heidenheim. In every game, they showcase their incredibly dynamic and energetic style of play, they’re dedicated to man-marking, and so we’re going to see a lot of duels between players. I’m really looking forward to the game, as we only recently played against each other in the league. That game really got our season up and running. In addition, we want to be able to show that we’ve taken a big step forward in terms of our play compared to the game in the Bundesliga, and that we’ve developed well as a team.

...his approach to the DFB-Pokal: The DFB-Pokal is just an awesome competition. When you go deeper and deeper into the competition, and you see how few teams are left, it has a real magic to it. It’s also just wonderful to take part in knockout football outside of the league, and to have a real chance at silverware. In the cup, the league that you play in is irrelevant, as is your recent form. There’s always a fairly level playing field in the cup then, at least for me. We want to keep progressing, after all, as the motto of the DFB-Pokal goes: “winner stays on!” And we want to give everything we’ve got, in order to run out as winners this week.

"Fabio Vieira is a really important player for us, he brings us so much quality and experience"

…possible rotations to the squad: We have a deep and very talented squad. We’ll make use of this to manage the workload of the whole team, as we’re focused on the league and the condition of each player as well as the game against Heidenheim. Therefore, we’ll make a few changes – Jean-Luc Dompe won’t be joining us for example. He’s struggling with his Achilles tendon again, and needs to just take a few days to manage the stress on his foot, although he’ll definitely be available for the game against Köln this weekend. Fabio Vieira is back with us now, though. He’s a really important player for us, bringing so much quality and experience.

...a change between the sticks: Daniel Peretz will start in goal in the cup. We’ve planned on this for a long time and have now discussed the idea with everyone involved. Daniel has incredible quality as a goalkeeper and as a leader, which he showcases day in, day out at training. He simply deserves the chance to start based on his performances in each session. I hope that we can progress in the competition and consequently have the chance to give him more opportunities to start. Ferro is happy for Daniel and is involved in this decision, as although there’s fierce competition to be the number one here, they still have a really positive relationship with one another.