Pellegrino Matarazzo maintained his usual calm pulse even after the next sporting setback for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The coach of the Bundesliga football club had every reason to lose his temper, given the false start to the season with three defeats from four games and the turbulence within the club.
The 1:2 (0:2) defeat at 1. FC Union Berlin caused TSG to slip to 15th place in the table and somewhat dampened the anticipation of the start of the reformed Europa League next Wednesday against Danish representative FC Midtjylland. The situation in Kraichgau is tense.
Wagner not a candidate in Hoffenheim
The almost complete replacement of the club’s management in the summer resulted in a sporting decline and a partial boycott of the club’s own fans. “We try to concern ourselves with it as little as possible. But you can’t completely block it out. It always has an effect on the team and the games,” said TSG goalscorer Marius Bülter.
“It’s about leaving these external noises behind us,” said Matarazzo. He himself was greatly affected by them. After all, the club recently inquired about a potential successor for Matarazzo, whose contract expires at the end of the season. An unofficial inquiry about the possible availability of Sandro Wagner, assistant coach of the national team, was unsuccessful.
The 36-year-old will not move to a Bundesliga club at least until the 2026 World Cup. “We have clearly agreed and also coordinated with him that he will stay with us until the World Cup,” DFB sports director Rudi Völler reported on the agreement with Wagner in ZDF’s “Aktuelles Sportstudio”.
Matarazzo misses the trust of the club management
The events have left their mark on Matarazzo, however. In these difficult weeks, the 46-year-old football coach often uses the word “trust” – which he obviously misses. But he does not want to complain publicly. “If I said something, the fire would be even bigger,” said Matarazzo. But there was a small swipe at those in charge at the club: “I do my job as well as I can with this team.”
The departure of sports director Alexander Rosen in the middle of the preseason has had an impact. It left a vacuum in the composition of the squad, which is not good enough, especially in defense. Eleven goals conceded in just four games are proof of this. “That’s madness and it’s really pissing me off,” ranted national goalkeeper Oliver Baumann about the weakness of the defense.
TSG coach sees no Bundesliga level
This was responsible for Hoffenheim being 2-0 down after just five minutes at the Alte Försterei. This angered Matarazzo. “We were close to a debacle,” he said. The TSG coach criticized his team’s performance when it came to the two early goals conceded, “not at Bundesliga level.”
The Berliners acted “much sharper” in every respect. He now expects explanations for this from his players. “Everyone has to look in the mirror and ask themselves why they were sharper, only everyone can answer that for themselves,” said Matarazzo.
Baumann was also angry: “We are extremely disappointed because we started the game badly. That has something to do with greed and alertness. We were taken by surprise.” The 34-year-old has one wish above all for the coming weeks: “It is extremely important that we stay together. Players, fans and club.”
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