Bundesliga fan series
After the 2nd and 3rd Bundesliga, Transfermarkt will also take a detailed look at the 18 teams in the Bundesliga with the help of the community in the coming days. Which players are the fans looking forward to the most, where is there room for improvement and what is in the squad for 2022/23 for your favorite club? We asked around in the forums and got our opinions – in league one we continue with user “bamberger1848” and VfL Bochum.
Thomas Reis likes to talk about a miracle. According to him, the rise in 2020/21 was one of those, as was staying up the following year. And as a VfL fan you were on cloud nine for almost the entire season anyway. Never really in danger of relegation, Bayern shot out of the stadium and made sure they stayed up in the league with their black and yellow neighbors. In the end, they held the class with 42 points, there was also a lot going on in the cup, and it would certainly have been possible if Maxim Leitsch hadn’t missed the ball in the 120th minute of the quarter-finals.
How do you rate the VfL Bochum squad?
Success awakens desires. And so you could already guess that the path of our young talents in Bochum will probably end soon and that they are called to higher things. But it was important to both changing players that VfL also participated in their departure. At the beginning of last season, Leitsch extended his contract by a year with an opt-out clause, this season Leitsch’s path will continue in Mainz. Certainly bitter that there were “only” 3.5 million for such a player in this class – but still better than free transfer. With Armel Bella-Kotchap, the second talented central defender has left VfL for a record sum (for the first time there was a double-digit million amount!). Sebastian Polter also brought in money. The top scorer of the past season went to newly promoted Schalke for 1.5 million euros. However, this means that ten hits are missing, which you have virtually “handed over” to a competitor.
Milos Pantovic’s free transfer to Union Berlin is also a shame and I don’t understand it. However, in Köpenick he has the opportunity to play in Europe and will certainly earn more than in Bochum, where they have so far refused to pay more expensive first division salaries. In addition to two dream goals in the middle of the first half of the season, Pantovic was less conspicuous in the second half of the season, but his penalty goals against Mainz in the cup and in Dortmund were no less important. Stafylidis from Hoffenheim has been signed by loan players Konstantinos Stafylidis, Elvis Rexhbecaj and Eduard Löwen. Löwen could never really live up to expectations, Rexhbecaj was too expensive for VfL as a whole, and FC Augsburg struck. The other departures: Danny Blum was injured too often, Herbert Bockhorn was dissatisfied with his role due to a lack of playing time, for “football god” Robert Tesche it was unfortunately no longer enough for league one, and Saulo Decarli and Tom Weilandt played no role in Reis’ plans anyway more. For the two youngsters Moritz Römling (from RW Essen) and Luis Hartwig (from St. Pölten), it’s all about getting as much match practice as possible, which would not be possible at VfL at the moment.
When it came to commitments, VfL was again very creative around sporting director Sebastian Schindzielorz. With Philipp Hofmann from Karlsruher SC, the first transfer for the new season was signed at the beginning of May – he replaces Polter. Philipp Förster succeeds Rexhbecaj, Stafylidis continues to fill the backup role behind Danilo Soares. Jannes Horn has also been re-signed, as Soares’ injury issue will probably drag on a little longer. After all: Horn is left-footed and therefore also an alternative for central defense and/or a back three. With Kevin Stöger (2016 to 2018 at VfL) and Jordi Osei-Tutu (2019/20 at VfL), two familiar faces came back who didn’t need any start-up time – Stöger is already excellently fulfilling his role as game designer. Saidy Janko takes on the role of Bockhorn as right-back backup, Jacek Goralski is Tesche’s replacement. An exciting central defender was signed in Ivan Ordets, and the whole VfL fan camp was waiting anxiously for the second man to play in the center of defence, where the signing of Dominique Heintz has now been completed. The talents Tim Oermann (contract until 2024) and Mohammed Tolba (still eligible to play for the U19) raise hopes of following in the footsteps of the central defenders mentioned above, but a lot of patience is required here.
Where do you still see a need for improvement before Deadline Day?
In summary, they have definitely strengthened in attack and midfield, especially since our wingers like Takuma Asano and Gerrit Holtmann are now even better integrated into the system. The plans for the central defender position have now been completed. VfL are on the lookout for a central midfielder (maybe Levin Öztunali?) and a striker (possibly Lys Mousset), but the club won’t pay millions for these players. Free transfer players remain the keyword.
Leitsch level with Freier: The most expensive departures from VfL Bochum
What do you expect from the playful appearance of the team?
VfL will probably continue and perfect its style of play, which is unique in the league. The division of space in the midfield center worked pretty well in the test games, but in central defense it is still quite a construction site. Also because Erhan Masovic, who was actually planned as a regular player, was in a clear low form and lost his regular place. Coach Reis left options open such as a dual leadership with Hofmann/Zoller, which was formed with Polter/Locadia in the second half of last season, or a back three, as used in the last game of the season against Union Berlin. Now you also gradually have the more suitable players, especially since you are gradually replacing the expensive “legacy” from the second division with qualitatively better players.
What’s in store for VfL Bochum in 2022/23?
For VfL it will be 34 (possibly + two) games solely about staying up. The defense, especially the central defense, remains the Achilles’ heel. While long balls from Leitsch were simply run over last season or shot attempts were blocked by Bella-Kotchap, in the near future things could burn brightly with long balls at the top, as our central defenders are currently more capable of tackling than speed. Even seven points that you scored against the champions and runners-up last season cannot necessarily be planned for again this season. It will be important to score three times against the promoted teams at the beginning of the season, otherwise you will be stuck in the bottom of the table in winter and you may not be able to get out of it. However, those responsible are aware of their role as the absolute underdog and are self-confident without assessing the situation unrealistically. Another Bundesliga year would be the third miracle under Thomas Reis, who would then finally have a place in the VfL coaching hall of fame alongside Klaus Toppmöller.
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