Hamburger SV: Merlin Polzin and the chance of a lifetime

For Merlin Polzin, what happened last week is something like a dream come true. The 33-year-old assistant coach reacted with “shining eyes” when sports director Jonas Boldt asked him whether he wanted to become head coach of HSV. Of course Polzin wanted to. He is from Hamburg and as a teenager he stood in the north stand in the Volkspark.

Polzin had already said in the summer of 2020, when he returned to his favorite club from VfL Osnabrück in tow with then head coach Daniel Thioune from VfL Osnabrück. There is nothing that “can be more special” for him than working for HSV. He previously worked as a youth coach at HSV. When Thioune had to leave again nine months later, Polzin wanted to stay. “Because HSV means so much to me.” Despite all the love for the diamond, this was only half the truth.

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Boldt had really wanted to keep him because he had already seen something in Polzin back then. And this made a difficult decision much easier for the sports director last Monday: separating from head coach Tim Walter. Boldt was only able to do this with a clear conscience because the 42-year-old was convinced that he had a “great coaching talent” in Polzin.

He will stay, the only question is in what capacity: HSV interim coach Merlin Polzin

Source: dpa/Christian Charisius

It is not yet entirely clear what will happen next for the traditional club, where they fear that they will miss a return to the first division at the sixth attempt. There could still be an experienced coach. There are interested parties. HSV is still pulling. But first Polzin should fix it. On Tuesday he led the first training session and on Saturday he will be responsible for the away game at Hansa Rostock (1 p.m./live Sky). And no matter what happens afterwards or in the coming weeks – Polzin will definitely play a role in “a medium or long-term solution,” said Boldt.

Boldt’s reasons for the change

As a result, the HSV boss, who himself came under criticism due to Walter’s failure, gained time. Even though there had been dissatisfaction for a long time, the change of coach was anything but planned on Boldt’s part. But after the 3-4 home defeat against Hannover 96 last weekend, the pressure was simply too much. Once again HSV lost points due to negligent defensive behavior.

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it could not go on like that. Boldt also had to realize this, even though he had defended Walter against critics in the club committees in December. But if he hadn’t reacted now, Boldt himself would have been damaged. “We didn’t want to let the situation collapse and we saw the danger that it would get a bit out of hand,” he said: “That’s why we felt compelled to act.”

The homogeneity of the club was at stake. Boldt had to laboriously produce them over the past four and a half years. When he arrived in the summer of 2019, the problems piled up. A year earlier, HSV was relegated from the first division for the first time in its history. Supporters and sponsors were frustrated. The constant anger with the erratic investor Klaus-Michael Kühne determined the perception of the club. The far too high cost structure, which HSV fell on its feet during the Corona crisis at the latest, made realignment difficult. It was about survival.

Walter was a factor in the significantly better mood

The club has now gotten many problems under control – and that was without promotion, which would have made things easier. HSV has regained trust and has recently even been able to invest moderately in the team again. “It was an enormous effort to bring everything back together. It is not normal that we were able to do this at a time when fans and football tend to be divided,” explained Boldt.

Walter was a factor in the significantly better atmosphere compared to the first years of the second division. Above all, the stormy offensive football he played had an integrative effect. The fans turned home games into happenings. Under Walter, HSV once again stood for more than just a failed traditional club, a dinosaur that had fallen out of time. Spectacles and great cinema were offered for two and a half years – although in the end the most important goal of the season was missed twice: promotion again. But that was nothing new.

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But failure is not a long-term prospect – especially not economically. The longer HSV is in the second division, the less it will be able to benefit from its old charisma and previous successes in terms of sponsorship and TV money. There were also doubts as to whether Walter’s approach was still the right one. Boldt had long hoped that the passion of Walter football could be enriched with a dash of pragmatism: a few fewer risks, a few more safeguards – then the most valuable team in the second division with a market value of 46.4 million euros should succeed finally bring it back up.

…then nothing stands in the way of his future as a head coach

However, this failed due to Walter’s lack of insight. The man from Baden couldn’t get out of his skin – even after the urgency of a change of style was explicitly pointed out to him again during the winter break. The team continued to play as usual – and made the same outrageous mistakes.

Third place in the table does not hide the danger of the situation. HSV is currently seven points and three wins behind what it achieved at the same time last year. The 31 goals conceded particularly stand out: there have never been so many after 21 match days. The team feared that it might not be enough again in the end. “I felt insecure,” said Boldt.

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Polzin promised on Friday to do everything he could to eliminate the doubts. He is smart enough not to announce a revolution. For him, it’s about extending the enthusiasm that Walter had breathed into the team into their defensive behavior. He wanted to awaken “defensive desire”.

“The opportunity is there to do things even better than we have already done,” he said. If he succeeds in this, nothing should stand in the way of his future as HSV head coach. Because Boldt is convinced of him. Polzin explained that it is still true that it is special for him to work at HSV: “But I am not here as a fan, but as a coach.” It is the opportunity of a lifetime for him.

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