Club Haberleri

Interview with RBL’s January signing

Ahead of the away match at TSG Hoffenheim, head coach Sebastian Hoeneß discusses his team and his former club.

As a player Mainz head coach Bo Svensson wore the FSV shirt in over a hundred competitive matches between 2007 and 2014. After his playing career he moved into coaching at the club, initially as an assistant and youth coach, before he got the call to take over the relegation threatened Bundesliga team in January 2021. Under Svensson, the team stabilised, picked up 32 points in the second half of the season and finished the season in twelfth place. And since then those fears have been well and truly allayed. In 2021/22, they finished eighth, last year it was ninth. 

After eight rounds of matches, U19 coach Mike Tullberg’s charges top the table in the A-Junior Bundesliga West with a perfect score of 24 points. The two closest challengers Bayer 04 Leverkusen (18 points) and FC Schalke 04 (16 points), who occupy second and third place respectively, will go head-to-head on Sunday.

The Green-Whites are all set to travel to the capital to take on 1. FC Union Berlin at the Alte Försterei on Saturday, 16th March (15:30 CET), and are looking to collect all three points once again against the team that they beat on matchday 9. In Thursday’s pre-match press conference, head coach Ole Werner revealed that SVW will need to “deliver a strong, energetic performance” in order to come out on top against the 14th-place side.

The 1-0 win against Heidenheim last time out was, in the eyes of head coach Jess Thorup, a typically competitive clash: “We defended very well, gave away almost no chances and scored from a set piece.” His side’s third win in a row moved them up to ninth in the table, but according to Thorup, that is no cause for complacency. “It’s a whole new game – anything could happen! We want to carry our confidence into the Wolfsburg game and come away with a positive result,” said the Dane.
Augsburg have only won four Bundesliga games on the bounce on one occasion, between November and December 2014. Thorup knows that “wins breed confidence. You can see that on the pitch and also in the dressing room.” The FCA head coach described his team’s upcoming opponents as “a highly-motivated team who know what it’s all about,” going on to say: “It will be a tight game, but we’re in a good rhythm and we want to make the most of that.”

Another week is in the books for Bayern Munich loanees. Although there were a few wins...

The narrow advantage won’t lead to SCF taking a completely different approach to this game, as Christian Streich emphasised at a press conference the evening before the game. “At 1-0, the situation isn’t much different. It’s all about what we put into practice on the pitch, how brave we are and what options we give our players with the ball at their feet.” It will also be important to prepare the team for all possibilities depending on the opponent’s set-up.

For Hertha BSC, Sunday’s match is not only the first derby in the club’s history, but also the first women’s football match in over 30 years. Having had one for around a decade from 1978, it is now 35 years since the club were represented by a women’s team. Hertha previously have cooperated with 1. FC Lübars, 2. Liga champions in 2015, from 2009 to 2016 and with 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam from 2020 to 2022.

Maybe, but it is probably not what you are thinking.