Polzin: “We know we need an absolutely top performance”

It’s a historic week for HSV, as they head into the first of three upcoming home games in a row. It kicks off on Sunday, as VfB Stuttgart visit the Volksparkstadion. The DFB-Pokal holders and Europa League participants won convincingly in Europe in midweek, beating Go Ahead Eagles 4-0. It’s going well for them domestically as well, as they currently sit in fifth place in the Bundesliga table. HSV and Polzin welcome the challenge and will look to put up a strong fight with the support of a packed Volksparkstadion behind them. On Friday, Polzin spoke in detail about…  

…his available squad: Warmed Omari is still out. We were able to increase Daniel Elfadli’s workload this week, but his check-up revealed that his injury still hasn’t fully healed. We don’t want to take any unnecessary risks, so he won’t be in the squad this weekend. The same goes for Yussuf Poulsen, although he has taken steps forward in his recovery. He’ll be back soon enough.

…the upcoming opponents: We’ve watched a lot of Stuttgart’s matches. Their development since we played them in the relegation play-off has been exceptional, from winning the cup to qualifying for Europe multiple times. As a neutral, it’s great fun to watch their games and take away some of their ideas. 

“You’ll always have chances to create something dangerous"

…his match plan: It’s going to be a really exciting challenge. They have a lot of quality, both in their coaching staff and in their squad. We’re aware of that and we’re aware we need a clear plan of action, which is something we’ve been working on this week. We need to be more energetic than we were at the start of the Augsburg game. We want to do better on Sunday with the support of a full stadium behind us. We saw against Dortmund that there are always ways to create something dangerous through counter-attacks, set pieces or building out from the back. We know we need an absolutely top performance.

…his side’s attack: You can see that, statistically, we are becoming more and more dangerous and creating more chances in front of goal. Our opponents are also different in terms of quality compared to what they have been over the last seven years. There are many small details that have stopped us from being more clinical in front of goal. We’re determined to improve on that this weekend. Whether it ends up being lots of goals, or just a couple, the main thing is that we play well. That’s our focus.