Polzin: “An assured performance is needed at the Volksparkstadion on Sunday”

HSV head coach Merlin Polzin spoke in his press conference ahead of the match at home to Karlsruher SC about team news, the upcoming opponent and the team’s league position going into the season run-in.

The Rothosen round off matchday 31 in Bundesliga 2 on Sunday when they take on KSC at home (kick-off 13:15 CEST). HSV head coach Merlin Polzin looked ahead to the fixture with plenty of confidence in his press conference, albeit while retaining full focus on the clash as well as the remainder of the campaign. The 34-year-old spoke in detail about…

... team news: Bakery Jatta, Aboubaka Soumahoro and Noah Katterbach are continuing their rehabilitation and are steadily nearing their returns. Miro Muheim is in a similar position. He was able to have his workload increased over the past week and we will see things progress for him next week. Sebastian Schonlau has been suffering with lower back pain this week and returned to complete light training today. Tomorrow’s final training session will be decisive regarding his inclusion. Nicolas Oliveira has returned to team training and coped well with the increased intensity.

... the upcoming opponent: We have been keeping tabs on KSC for some time and full credit has to go to head coach Christian Eichner for the development of the team. The stability of the club with regard to the team, stadium and fans is really impressive. That was not only clear across the first half of the season, rather those things remain present. KSC will require us to be on top form and they possess one of the most influential players in the league in Marvin Wanitzek. 

“We are in a position to be operating with complete confidence”

... his expectations for the contest: A very different opponent awaits us now in contrast to our previous, Schalke. We expect to have a great deal of possession since Karlsruhe defend in a compact shape. Our aim is to create goalscoring opportunities and to do that it is important that we are accurate with the ball, well-prepared when it comes to final-third play and composed in our finishing. We also hope to be effective from set-pieces, as we were in the reverse fixture. Simultaneously, we have to defend our own goal with everything we have.

... the current situation ahead of the final few fixtures: The nice thing about football and sport in general is the excitement come the end of a season and that’s something both the lads and I are feeling at this moment in time. It is a kind of positive nervousness which is only natural. When you have the chance to really achieve something though, that’s when you become all the more stressed. The important thing for us now is to not be influenced by outside voices because we are in a position to be operating with complete confidence. At the same time, however, the game on Sunday isn’t going to be decided after just 15 minutes since the opponent is too strong for that to happen so we have sights set on a good result come full time. We demand a lot from our own game but focusing on the end result isn’t the best way to go about things, rather to concentrate on delivering on the pitch and the things which will help us secure the points. That starts with the defensive work and then extends to those things besides footballing ability such as mentality, effort and body language. We are sure in ourselves and an assured performance is needed at the Volksparkstadion on Sunday. I do not just refer to the team and the fans but everyone involved. We aim to deliver maximum intensity and energy in our performance.