Nowadays, hardly any professional coach enters a game without a clear idea. Most of the time, there is talk of a pompous match plan. Sebastian Hoeneß, on the other hand, is not necessarily an ardent supporter of this concept.
“You shouldn’t attach so much importance to it,” said the TSG Hoffenheim coach in the matchday press conference ahead of the task at VfB Stuttgart this Saturday (15.30, LIVE! on kicker). Hoeneß sees the danger of focusing too much on his own match plan in case of doubt and thus overlooking possible changes in the opponent or unexpected events. Or to miss the right moment for a correction by stubbornly following one concept. “You have to be able to react and recognise things when they don’t work that way,” he explains. At most, the 38-year-old wants to make minor adjustments ahead of the Baden-Württemberg showdown: “The idea won’t change fundamentally, we won’t line up at the back and we won’t just try to play long balls.” Short passing game, as many deep runs as possible via the wings Pavel Kaderabek and David Raum – the latter was already a decisive factor in the 3:1 against VfL Wolfsburg.
Hoeneß: “They suffer a bit from efficiency “
If Hoeneß has his way, that should once again be the case in Stuttgart – with opponent-specific adjustments, of course, before and during the 90 minutes. For the Hoffenheim coach, who has to do without Marco John (slight ankle capsule injury), the fact that VfB have been without a win since the 5-1 defeat to Greuther Fürth at the start of the season is not a sign of a lack of quality. “They have one of the most goals in the league, they suffer a bit from efficiency,” Hoeneß explained the plight of the Cannstatt side, in whose youth he once played. The 13th-placed team, which is missing two key offensive players in Silas and Sasa Kalajdzic, is “not to be underestimated”. “I think the team is quite stable and enormously strong in terms of play. You have to defend well and press well to separate them from the ball,” describes the football coach, who will almost certainly have these parameters on his list for the match – whether as part of a match plan or in the form of principles.