Football Season Guide

Hoffenheim defied the odds last season by overcoming the sale of their most important players to finish the season in third and qualify for the group stages of the Champions League for the first time. This season will therefore be a historic one for the club and will also see the end of head coach Julian Nagelsmann. In the last two seasons the club has managed back to back top four finishes and it will now come as no surprise should they manage to repeat the feat once again this term. There is no doubt that much of the credit has to go to head coach Nagelsmann who has formed a young squad with bags of potential. However Hoffenheim’s highly rated coach will be moving on at the end of this season to fellow Bundesliga side Leipzig. Even with Nagelsmann moving on, the club has brought in a handful of players who could serve the squad for many years to come. In attacking midfield Leonardo Bittencourt, Vincenzo Grifo and Ishak Belfodil will all help to fill the void left by Mark Uth moving on. In defence Kasim Nahu and Joshua Brenet are both highly rated talents. Overall the squad certainly looks stronger heading into this season than last. The big question for Hoffenheim this season will be how they manage to balance out their domestic commitments with the challenge of their first Champions League campaign. Without doubt though the squad has proven itself able to adapt and develop under Nagelsmann. The team has begun to play a more attacking style of football in recent years switching between a 4-3-3 to a more defensive 4-2-3-1 which should prove successful in Europe. The highly ambitious team and coach will not want anything less than a top four finish, even though plenty of teams will be gunning for them this season.