Home game against Stuttgart
A year with coach Merlin Polzin – HSV takes stock
November 28, 2025 – 3:23 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Coach Merlin Polzin has achieved a lot at Hamburger SV in one year. After promotion, the young coach is now fighting a negative run with HSV.
Merlin Polzin has achieved what many big names have failed to do: he has it Hamburger SV returned to the Bundesliga after a seven-year absence. Now he faces the challenge of securing relegation. The Hamburg native has been at the helm of the club since November 2024 and is currently the youngest coach in the 1st Bundesliga. Polzin developed from interim coach to head coach and is very popular with fans.
Merlin Polzin explains on the club’s website: “The annual mark is a beautiful and at the same time small moment in everything we do here HSV “I still plan to.” The twelve months as boss went by very quickly.
The sporting situation is currently cause for concern. HSV only got one point from the last five league games. A defeat against Stuttgart on Sunday (3:30 p.m./DAZN) could bring the club closer to the relegation zone. Only two points separate the Hanseatic League from the relegation place, their city rivals FC St Pauli proven.
HSV sports director Stefan Kuntz supports his coach: “The daily work, the interaction with players, the energy they bring in. The clarity that we have there. Also a certain willingness to listen to something and always want to develop dynamically.”
Kuntz emphasizes: “The trust we placed in Merlin and his entire coaching team was more than justified.” The club management is sticking with the coach despite the crisis in results.
Polzin does not shy away from difficult decisions. He put the then captain Sebastian Schonlau on the bench and parted ways with deserving players like Schonlau and Davie Selke in the summer.
The coach explains his leadership philosophy: “It’s really important to me that you are a good teammate. A good teammate is not defined by the fact that you congratulate when your colleague scores a goal, but also in the moments that are more difficult.”
In the summer, Polzin introduced a new style of play: more compact, more transition moments and a greater focus on defense. The change is not yet showing the desired consistency.
Polzin says in a club portrait: “We needed time to arrive in the Bundesliga – with the new team, new players and characters and the adapted way of playing football in order to be competitive. That was true in phases, but in parts it wasn’t reliable for over 90 minutes.”