Football Season Guide

Karlsruher faded after a strong start to the last campaign and eventually finished just inside the top half. They were well in the hunt for promotion at the halfway stage, but the loss of star striker Zivzivadze to Heidenheim was the catalyst for their downfall. Head coach Eichner will be entering his 7th season in charge of the club and so far he has done a solid job. The KSC has a significantly smaller budget to a lot of sides in the division, but in 5 of those campaigns, Eichner has got the club inside the top-half of the table. In order for this to continue, Eichner has had to be shrewd in the transfer market once again. The loss of goalkeeper Weiß and midfielder Jensen have been attended to with the purchases of Bernat and Muller respectively. Young duo Duhring and Scholl have also been brought in to bolster the back-line. The attacking department also needed a reboot after Conte and Kaufmann both finished their loan spells. Croatian forward Simic has come in on loan and could work well alongside young talent Farhat, who broke into the first-team towards the end of last season. More is likely to be needed in the transfer market for Karlsruher to move forward and their attacking style could again leave them vulnerable defensively. Key midfielder Wanitzek was a difference maker last season, but how much influence he can still have at 32 remains to be seen.