For me, Bochum has the weakest squad in the league when you go through the individual players, but at the same time the squad that fits the role best tactically of all the clubs I expect below. Defensively strong one-on-one “broken bones” like Ordets, Stafylidis and Goralski, with Stöger a player who can do one thing perfectly and that’s bringing players into the limelight perfectly and Bochum has four incredibly fast wingers there. They also have the best coach in the clubs there and a very experienced squad. There isn’t a bad team this season, so it will be very exciting to see who will prevail and I think that the four main relegation candidates plus one or two clubs from Hertha, Union, Cologne and maybe Stuttgart and Mainz (although I’m most likely Cologne and then see Hertha) will provide very close competition.
Although Bochum has a large bloodletting and the lowest individual quality, other clubs also have weaknesses. For me, Augsburg doesn’t have a quality highlight anywhere except maybe the IV and Dorsch, a consistently balanced, somewhat below-average squad, probably the absolutely unpredictable coach and no player who reliably scores goals. Schalke have the worst coach in the league and lack the pace to switch offense. Bremen has poorly manned wings, maximum question marks in midfield and their showpiece, the strikers, have either not shown it for a long time or have never shown it in the Bundesliga. Köln have a team that is too thin with a double load, a dependency on a diva up front who wants to leave and a coach with a very intense style of play and no experience with triple loads. Hertha still lacks the pace and is and remains the biggest site for unrest. Of course, all squads have their different advantages. That’s logic. In addition, every coach is actually a question mark in certain parts there. A good first division coach is only guaranteed by Cologne and he now has a task ahead of him that he has never had before.
I would currently say that Bochum has the worst chance of staying in the class, but almost at the same level as the other three plus Cologne. So if I give the others a 50% chance, Bochum has 45% for me. I think that’s hard to predict below. I think everyone can do 13th place, but everyone can also take last place and maybe even 12th place. That will be really interesting.