Polzin sets the derby tone: “For me, HSV is Hamburg!” | OneFootball

Merlin Polzin has caused a stir with clear statements ahead of his first city derby as head coach. His tenor: HSV is the number one in the city!

On Friday evening (8.30 pm, Sky), Hamburger SV will return to the big stage at the Volksparkstadion. The first Bundesliga home game in over seven years is against city rivals FC St. Pauli. So it's completely logical that this match is not just about three points.

"HSV is Hamburg for me. HSV is also the North for me," head coach Merlin Polzin made clear at the press conference on Wednesday. Although the 34-year-old emphasized that he wanted to "respectfully acknowledge" the work of the city rival, his tone left no doubt about who he believes owns the city. "I think HSV interests a lot of people in Hamburg."

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Polzin hopes for a "cool new" derby story

With this, the native of Hanseatic city is continuing an old derby tradition: Already in 2021, Daniel Thioune, under whom Polzin had already worked as an assistant coach at VfL Osnabrück, had prepared HSV with similar words for the neighborhood duel. Now his former apprentice is challenged for the first time as head coach. "The excitement has been there since the beginning of this week. We are the football capital of Germany, you can feel it everywhere in the club," explained Polzin.

Sportingly, the Red Shorts can almost draw from full strength: Offensive man Jean-Luc Dompé is "full of anticipation" after injury break and also top scorer Robert Glatzel returned to training this week. But Polzin particularly relies on the fans: "We have at least 50,000 HSVers behind us, who are doing everything to ensure that we win this derby."

The route is clear anyway: "It's our first home game after all these years in the 2nd league and we want to win it with all our might. We are extremely willing to add a cool new story to the derby history on Friday."

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