Hoffenheim will see this season as one of transition as Markus Gisdol tried to steer the club away from the high spending ways of the recent past and he began by getting rid of a number of players at the start of the campaign. Early in the season there were a few players who were identified as having no future at the club, which disrupted their pre season preparation and early matches with the spot light on the off field antics rather the team's performances on the pitch. However this was resolved over the course of the season as Gisdol cut his side down to a more manageable size. On the pitch the club's season was notable for the amount of goals they scored, 72 (third highest in the league) in total but also the amount conceded, 70 (joint second highest) with a number of very high scoring games, especially at the start of the season and not always with positive results for Hoffenheim. But the board stuck with the manager and that eventually paid dividends with club getting results against many sides at the foot of the table, which meant they were never really in danger of dropping into the relegation zone. Some creditable results also followed, including home draws against Borussia Dortmund (eventual second place finishers) and Schalke, who went on to secure third spot in the league, and they even knocked that same team out of the DFB Cup in a thrilling 3 – 1 win, which would have been unimaginable a year before when they almost got relegated. Though they were eventually knocked out of the cup by Wolfsburg in the quarter final, safety in the league was secured with plenty of time to spare and indeed little was made of that as they looked so comfortable across the whole season and they played with little pressure late on with wins against Bayer Leverkusen (4th) and Wolfsburg (5th) showing the quality of the squad. An away 3 – 3 draw with Bayern München was also a very good result for them. The performances of Kevin Volland were also a real highlight this season with him playing as either an attacking midfielder or striker, he scored eleven goals but assisted many more and will surely be on the radar of many of the top sides in Germany over the summer. Their eventual position of ninth is not that inspiring but for Hoffenheim it represents a very good season and they will hope to build on it next year under the guidance of Gisdol.
