"Absolutely fed up" – Polzin sums up Freiburg friendly | OneFootball

The HSV tested on Saturday at SC Freiburg. There was light and shadow, as coach Merlin Polzin pointed out in his summary.

1:1 and 0:4: These were the final results of the respective 70-minute encounters on the SC Freiburg training ground. The stronger HSV team secured a draw, but could have even won. Until shortly before the end, they were in the lead thanks to a penalty goal from Yussuf Poulsen, before Maximilian Philipp scored the equalizer 60 seconds before the end of regular time.

“Of course, it annoys me maximally that we didn't leave the first game as winners - and that's extremely annoying,” said Merlin Polzin after the game (via Mopo). Overall, however, he was satisfied with the performance of his team: “That was a very compact defensive performance, and we also had our actions going forward from time to time. The team implemented the plan well.”

Polzin: “Freiburg is not our benchmark”

Additionally, Polzin attested to his team “clear progress compared to the previous weeks.” The further 70 minutes, on the other hand, may have reminded him of the Lyon game. The HSV created some scoring opportunities, but showed themselves to be very vulnerable defensively. “The second game showed us against a top Bundesliga team that we need absolute compactness and which defensive mistakes we must not make, because they are immediately punished at this level,” said the coach, whose contract extension was announced on Saturday morning.

Ultimately, his team showed above all in the first 70 minutes “what we need to be able to hold our own in the Bundesliga.” Polzin also made it clear, however, “that a perfectly played top team like Freiburg is not our benchmark.” The previous year's fifth-placed team, which was long sniffing at Champions League qualification, showed the HSV, which was running higher in the second half, its limits.

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Polzin then stated: “If we try to press a bit higher and don't stand compactly at the back, you have no chance.” Accordingly, he is aware that “we still have to take big steps individually and as a team to be able to measure up to this level every week.” He already has a vision of further development in mind: “If we can combine the defense from the first game and the offense from the second game, then we're on a good path.” So far, this has not been achieved by the HSV in any test game. The next opportunity for improvement is on Saturday against RCD Mallorca.

(Photo: Getty Images)

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.