Germany’s largest newspaper, Bild, didn’t hold its punches following Hoffenheim’s 3-0 defeat at the Volksparkstadion on Sunday afternoon. “Hoffenheim stagger towards mediocrity” was the blunt synopsis of Julian Nagelsmann’s side as they stumbled towards their fourth defeat in the past 10 Bundesliga games.
Indeed, the plucky team from the village of Sinsheim may have finished fourth last season and earned Champions League qualification all before their young, exciting coach had reached his 30th birthday, yet this season is a different story entirely. And risks applying a bit of harsh reality to the club’s current fairytale.
The Bundesliga minnows have struggled since Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy left for Bayern Munich last summer. Nagelsmann tried to tackle their loss with the signing of Havard Nordtveidt and the promotion of 19-year-old Dennis Geiger, yet results have suggested it hasn’t worked.
Hoffenheim’s goals per game have shot up from 1.08 last season to 1.38 and their points per game has fallen from 1.82 to 1.54. That may not sound like much but it basically means they’ve dropped from fourth in the Bundesliga down to tenth and don’t look as though they’re going to climb back up anytime soon.
European football has also bashed the legacy Nagelsmann is trying to build in Sinsheim. Getting knocked out of the Champions League playoffs by Liverpool is nothing to be ashamed of, but sitting dead last in a Europa League group with Braga, Ludogorets and Basaksehir is hardly befitting of a Bundesliga side, let alone one coached by a man tipped to be the next Bayern or Dortmund coach.
- Favre
- Stöger
- Nagelsmann
- Bosz
None of them doing particularly well right now.
There’s no denying that Nagelsmann’s magic touch is still there in part. Despite sitting tenth in the league table, Hoffenheim have already beaten two of the current top four. And face a third test this weekend against Leipzig, before Hannover, Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund round off the final games of 2017.
However, football is a fickle sport and although Nagelsmann faces a daunting task in being asked to achieve the same miracles all over again with a reshuffled squad, that’s, unfortunately, the way the modern game works.
Crashing out of Europe and finishing six or seven positions below last season’s final spot would cost any top manager his job and if Nagelsmann wants to be considered among the elite coaches in Germany he must be prepared to accept criticism now that things are no longer going his way.
