Football Season Guide

Hoffenheim coach Markus Gisdol had his first full season in charge last year and it could certainly be described as eventful. They scored the third most goals but conceded the second most amid plenty of high scoring matches but Gisdol will probably be happier if they stop letting in so many which really prevented them from pushing on last year. It was always likely to be a transition season after their near relegation and he started the task of clearing out the huge squad that Hoffenheim have. That has continued this year but they still have the largest squad in the league. Many of the players who have left are squad players or those who were not needed any more but losing Fabian Johnson to fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach will be bitter for them as he was one of their more consistent performers. With Johnson gone they will look to Jeremy Toljan to step up this season while Jin-Su Kim has been brought in as another option at left back. Elsewhere Hoffenheim have invested in a few of proven players at this level with Oliver Baumann coming in from Freiburg to challenge the currently injured Koen Casteels for the number one jersey. Pirmin Schwegler has given up the captains armband at Eintracht Frankfurt to join Gisdol while Adam Szalai is a proven goalscorer in the Bundesliga who was frustrated at the lack of chances in Schalke. With Gisdol likely to continue playing his attacking 4-2-3-1 system usually there will probably still be plenty of goals at either end of the pitch but the three usual centre backs of Jannick Vestergaard, David Abraham and young Niklas Süle beginning to form a better understanding with each other they will hope to get some more clean sheets this term. Much will depend on Roberto Firmino who had a fine season last year and was amongst the goals and assists throughout the year which has caught the attention of some larger clubs. If they can keep hold of him for the whole season as well as get their forwards firing and their defence a bit tighter then a play in the Europa League is not out of the question but more likely is a similar finish to last season.