Prominent ex-Bundesliga professionals: players without a contract – the difference between keeping fit and being fit

There are still a lot of former Bundesliga professionals who don’t have a club. You keep in shape personally, but that’s not enough.

While the Bundesliga clubs are in the final stages of their preparations for the new season, hundreds of gyms or outdoor areas are also working hard for the new football year. A number of players whose contracts expired on June 30 are still waiting for a new job – and will have to do everything they can to be ready should a new club come forward.

Horn worked daily to return

One player who experienced this until recently is Jannes Horn. The left-back didn’t have a chance of getting a new contract with 1. FC Köln, but after waiting for a while, VfL Bochum has now struck. Last Monday (07/25/2022) Horn’s whereabouts in the Bundesliga became perfect. But the big question now is: When will he be ready for the German football upper house?

“I worked every day with my personal trainer Domletics from Cologne. That helped me a lot, although I’m not at 100 percent yet. I think I still need about two weeks, but the coach knows he can count on me“, says Horn in the Sportschau conversation.

Costs and organization (almost) completely on your own

All players who want to play back in the Bundesliga or at a similar level hire their own coach and work on their comeback individually and at their own expense. In rare cases, the consulting agencies also contribute to the costs and the organization. Some also organize week-long training camps. But most of the time the players have to do it alone.

“I didn’t think it would take so long. But I didn’t want to do anything, I was waiting for something that I stand behind 100 percent. And I found that at VfL Bochum“, says left-back Horn. “With my coach I worked in the strength area and on the court. I also worked on my weaknesses, the training was also position specific – lots of crosses, deep runs and shots from tight angles.”

The pressure on the pitch is the problem

A personal trainer that unemployed players often turn to is Dobromir Karkoszka from Düsseldorf. He has already worked with stars like Leroy Sané or Ilkay Gündogan, but also with footballers who have to be ready for a new job at the moment. But he makes it clear why a summer without a club can be very damaging for a player

“You can create the basic physical requirements and also work mentally, but when it comes to reproducing that in football, it doesn’t work. Football is a game under opponent and time pressure. You can’t replicate this pressure, and that makes all the difference“says Karkoszka in the Sportschau conversation. “There are players who do all sorts of things, but the very first training sessions at the club push them to their physical limits. No matter how hard you train, you can’t catch it at this level.“

“You have to play football to be a footballer”

His simple but equally clear motto: “Football has a dynamic that can only be represented by football. You have to play football and train to be a footballer.” No personal trainer could give a hard-working professional what he needs to deliver top performances over 90 minutes in the Bundesliga.

Unlike Horn, who is now struggling to be in top form for Bochum as soon as possible, there are others for whom the break is getting longer and longer. With Florian Grillitsch (TSG Hoffenheim) and John Anthony Brooks (VfL Wolfsburg) there are also regular players from last season. But the longer they don’t have a new club, the longer it will be before they can be top performers again.

Back on the pitch doesn’t mean back in the game

“If a player has finished the previous season, he is then on vacation and then misses six weeks of preparation. Then up to three months are missing. And then I’m convinced that the person needs another three months to get back to his old level” says Karkoszka.

Horn doesn’t think it will take that long for him. However, he has also experienced that the first training sessions are particularly strenuous. “The training was of course something completely different and after the first few days I also had very heavy legs. But I also expected that“, says the new Bochumer, who has also found out that there is a difference between keeping fit and being fit.