VfL legend Dariusz Wosz praises the development of Bochum under Thomas Letsch and has two suggestions for the choice of coach of the year.
The relegation battle in the Bundesliga is raging – and with VfL Bochum and FC Schalke 04, two Ruhr Area clubs are in the thick of it. Hopes of staying in the relegation zone are currently somewhat higher at Castroper Straße than at FC Schalke 04.
Bochum club legend Dariusz Wosz, however, sees potential for both clubs to at least not end up in the last two places in the table. “The most important thing will be for VfL to stay in,” the 53-year-old tells WAZ, “but I also don’t begrudge Thomas Reis, who brought Bochum into the 1. Liga.”
Wosz, who played close to 350 games for VfL and now heads the club’s football school, is impressed by the development Bochum have taken in recent months. “No shit, after the first eight games with only one point, I wouldn’t have bet a cent if I were to bet on them staying in the class,” he says. But the way they have fought their way out since the first win of the season against Frankfurt is, for me, the signature of coach Thomas Letsch.”
VfL Bochum are currently 15th on 26 points, four points clear of the relegation places. Schalke, who were already way down in the first half of the season, are 17th, one point behind Hertha BSC and one point ahead of VfB Stuttgart.
If both clubs stay in the Bundesliga, they are coach of the year for me.
Dariusz Wosz
If both teams manage to stay in the Bundesliga in the end, the coaches deserve a lot of respect, Wosz thinks: “If both clubs stay in the Bundesliga, they are coach of the year for me.” Under Thomas Reis, Bochum were promoted from the 2nd Bundesliga last season.
In the remaining weeks of the Bundesliga, the VfL legend expects TSG Hoffenheim to still pull away from the relegation battle. His projection: “If Stuttgart and Hertha go down, Schalke can get into the relegation – and then beat St. Pauli there.”
Wosz experienced relegation battles five times in his career – twice he was able to save himself with his former teams. When asked how VfL Bochum and Schalke 04 can stay in, he says: “By standing united as a team. If you conquer your inner pig and don’t form two or three small groups within the team. Then you have a very good chance of staying in the league. “
