When Merlin Polzin kicked off HSV’s training week with a boxing session at the “Tough Gym,” Jordan Torunarigha was absent. The defender trained individually on the pitch—so that he could step into the ring in Munich on Saturday at full strength.
The start of the center back, who arrived from Belgium with high expectations, was mixed at best: his preparation was shaky, with a red card in the test match in Mallorca (0-2) as the low point, and his cup performance in Pirmasens (2-1 after extra time) was just as unacceptable as his performance in the city derby against St. Pauli (0-2). In between, Torunarigha played a comparatively stable game in Mönchengladbach, which should set the standard.
The international break, says Merlin Polzin, came at the right time, especially for the 28-year-old. Because it allowed him to heal the wounds of the derby and recover from physical problems. After a break from training in the first week and starting on the pitch instead of in the boxing ring last Monday, the Chemnitz native is back in full team training and ready for Munich.
The skepticism that Torunarigha faces after his difficult start and ahead of the big task against Bayern’s top offense has not escaped Hamburg’s coach. “We try not to be influenced by outside influences,” says Polzin, assuring us: “Jordan himself knows exactly what he has done well and what he still needs to work on. He is very self-reflective and his own harshest critic. He wasn’t satisfied with his performance against St. Pauli.”
Polzin wants to put his trust in the left-footed player, but with Aboubaka Soumahoro he has a second left-footed player for the left position in the back three. The 20-year-old Frenchman started summer training with high expectations after almost six months out with a tendon injury, but then conceded a goal in each of the test matches against Copenhagen (0-1), Graz (1-2), and Lyon (0-4), albeit still playing in the center. “Abou,” the coach is convinced, “will bring us a lot of joy this season.” But the time does not seem to have come yet.
Vuskovic pushes himself forward
Polzin also suggests that being left-footed is not a prerequisite for him to fill this position, which has not been optimally filled so far. “That,” he says, “is not essential in modern soccer. Sebastian Schonlau has impressively demonstrated in recent years that you can also play with your wrong foot.” The former captain, who moved to the Vancouver Whitecaps at the end of August, played as a right-footed left center back in the back four for almost his entire four years in Hamburg.
For the current HSV, this means that Daniel Elfadli, who is likely to lose his place as defensive leader to Luka Vuskovic in Munich, could also defend on the left in the back three. For now, however, Polzin is continuing to plan with Torunarigha.
