Philip Otele: Merlin Polzin explains substitution in Augsburg draw

Hamburg head coach Merlin Polzin has explained his decision to substitute Philip Otele at half-time during their 1-1 draw with Augsburg in the German Bundesliga Matchday 28 encounter.

​Polzin’s side trailed 1-0 at the break after Otele missed a key chance to equalize in the 39th minute. The Nigerian international was subsequently replaced by Rayan Philippe for the second half.

​Polzin comments on substitution

​Following the match, the manager clarified that withdrawing the winger was a purely strategic move and not due to injury.

“No, he was not injured. It is always about improving our game. In the first half, we didn’t like our play because it caused us problems regarding depth and the repeated number of deep runs behind the line”

Polzin added that the change was necessary in order to spark a comeback.

“We needed those runs to become dangerous or to increase the space in the intermediate gaps.

In that case, we weren’t satisfied, and it became significantly more dynamic with Jatta. Therefore, I believe it was a good decision for the team.”‎‎