Hamburg coach Merlin Polzin has been trialling some different motivational strategies with his charges and invited a visually impaired fan to share his experiences with the players to encourage them to reflect on the use of all senses in football.

The supporter, Matthias, who has very limited vision and has been attending matches at the Volksparkstadion for years, wears headphones during matches through which specially trained commentators describe all the action.

Matthias recounted his personal experiences ahead of Die Rothosen's 1-0 win over VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 6, explaining that sensory impressions from the chants, cheers and murmurs of the crowd at key moments during matches are crucially important to him – the idea being that his story would help the players to realise that football is about all of the senses, not just the obvious ones.

Hamburg centre-back Sebastian Bornauw (r.) was appreciative of the fan's pre-match visit. - IMAGO/Susanne Hübner, Susanne Huebner

The team's feedback on Matthias's visit, following Miro Muheim’s dramatic late winner, was overwhelmingly positive.

“Merlin had a fan with impaired vision at the pre-match team meeting, and that gave us a real boost," said defender Sebastiaan Bornauw. "We wanted to put on a good performance for him too.” 

Following the win, he was duly allowed into the HSV dressing room shortly after the final whistle.

The initiative is part of a series of unorthodox motivational tactics Polzin has tried out over the past year.

He previously asked team coach driver and kit man Miroslav Zadach to talk about his memories of the famed Nordderby rivalry with Werder Bremen. On another occasion, players found youth jerseys and childhood photos hanging in the dressing room to remind them of the path they had taken to the professional game.