“Was brutally difficult”
Bundesliga club announces a decision on trainer
Updated on May 18, 2025 – 11:00 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Hoffenheim has to worry about staying in the Bundesliga until the last matchday. Despite the weak results, the trainer continues.
Coach Christian Ilzer got a preliminary job guarantee with TSG Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga after the short remaining with TSG Hoffenheim. “We will definitely go into the coming season with Christian Ilzer. You have to give him the time to have a longer preparation to change something. That was brutally difficult in the season,” said Hoffenheim’s sports manager Andreas Schicker after the 0: 4 in the season finale against German champion FC Bayern.
Ilzer took over the team from the Austrian champion Sturm Graz last November after Pellegrino Matarazzo was released. Despite his obligation, the 47-year-old could not stop the negative trend: Hoffenheim ended the season with only 32 points in 15th place in the table-just above the relegation zone.
Ilzer and Schicker want to discuss how the team should go on in a meeting on Monday. It should be about strategic questions about the organization of the squad and preparation. Schicker emphasized: “We know that it was a totally messed up season. Now we are relieved that we can play Bundesliga again next season. But we are aware that it cannot go on and that we have to change something,” said the sports director.
Ilzer also announced: “It is important to set the right impulses. We have a clear plan and we want to implement it in the preparation.” He described the past season as “brutally instructive”. For the coming months he would like “that we are a little more successful”.