TSG Hoffenheim are on the lookout for a coach after a series of ten games without a win and the dismissal of André Breitenreiter. The name of a former Schalke player has also come up.
The 2:5 debacle at VfL Bochum was too much for those responsible at TSG Hoffenheim. On Monday, the 14th-placed team announced the departure of coach André Breitenreiter. Another coach with a royal blue past is being considered as a potential successor for the former Schalke player.
The hottest candidate, according to dpa, is Pellegrino Matarazzo. The coach, who was sacked by VfB Stuttgart in October, would have a Hoffenheim pedigree. The 45-year-old was co-trainer under current Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann. The same goes for Matthias Kaltenbach, who most recently assisted Alfred Schreuder at Ajax Amsterdam, had to leave in January and could form a duo with Matarazzo.
The sports magazine Kicker has also brought Domenico Tedesco into play as a possible aspirant. The 37-year-old once worked in TSG’s youth department. Most recently, he was on the sidelines at RB Leipzig, where he was replaced by Marco Rose in September. Tedesco was rumoured to have a possible engagement with the Belgian national team. It is quite possible that Hoffenheim sporting director Alexander Rosen will intervene and contact the former Schalke coach.
The latter has not had any resounding success in the coaching race since Nagelmann’s departure in 2019. Schreuder did not manage a full season either, successor Sebastian Hoeneß at least had two seasons left in the Corona pandemic. In the end, however, he went on a negative streak similar to Breitenreiter’s and had to leave.
Whatever the TSG managers around Rosen decide: majority owner Dietmar Hopp will also have to give the go-ahead. Although the 82-year-old billionaire officially stays out of the operational business, he is and will remain a major player at Hoffenheim.
The new coach could be on the bench for the first time on Saturday (11 February, 15:30) against Bayer Leverkusen in a bid to halt Hoffenheim’s freefall in the Bundesliga.
