Football Season Guide

Hannover were solid defensively last season conceding the least amount of goals in the division, but a lack of firepower in attack would be their undoing. They were only 4 points off the top when they made the odd decision to part ways with coach Leitl and this was to backfire. Replacement Breitenreiter won only 3 of his 13 games in charge and was sacked shortly before the end of the campaign. There has been plenty of change at the club during the pre-season and most of it positive. The appointment of Christian Titz as the new boss has brought a buzz about the place after his successful spell with previous club Magdeburg. Hannover fans can look forward to a more possession based attacking style, but this could take a little time to implement. The club have also been very busy in the transfer market with a total of 15 new faces brought in to improve quality and squad depth. This has surpassed the previous total of 14 back in 2002 when they gained promotion. The back-line was a strong point last term but the experienced Zieler, Halstenberg, Neumann, and Muroya have all left. Young keeper Noll on loan from Hoffenheim proved himself in the division last season with Furth, while Ghita, Sterner, and Nawrocki are solid additions to the defence. More quality has been added in central midfield with young graduate Marius Worl returning to the club after a successful loan spell with Bielefeld. Frenchman Taibi also has good ball skills which will help the creativity further up the field. The attack was the area most in need and the club have moved to address this. Finnish striker Kallman is hoping to make an impression after scoring 18 times in the Polish league last season. Pichler is an experienced attacker from Kiel while winger Bundu should provide some pace on the flanks.