VfL Bochum is facing extremely difficult games in the Bundesliga – and now needs a new person in charge on the sidelines. After Peter Zeidler‘s dismissal, an interim solution is conceivable. It is surprising that sports director Lettau also had to leave.
After the first coaching separation of this Bundesliga season, VfL Bochum, still without a win, has to clarify the successor. According to a report in “Bild”, David Siebers is a possible internal solution after the departure of Peter Zeidler. The 37-year-old is currently coaching VfL Bochum’s U19 team and has been an option the club has been thinking about “for a long time.”
The club did not initially announce a new person in charge when Peter Zeidler and sports director Marc Lettau were announced to be out. The weakening Bundesliga club said the club would provide information about further action “in a timely manner”.
In any case, the new coach will face an extremely difficult opening program. Next Sunday, the bottom of the table continues with a home game against FC Bayern Munich. This is followed by the tasks at Eintracht Frankfurt, against champions Bayer Leverkusen and at VfB Stuttgart.
With a view to this complicated program, it will be exciting to see whether VfL will sign a new head coach – at the risk of any effect being lost straight away. Alternatively, an interim solution for the four games is conceivable.
In addition to Siebers, former Bundesliga professional Markus Feldhoff would also be another option. The 50-year-old is employed as an assistant coach at the club and has also worked as a boss. In 2021 he coached VfL Osnabrück, but was unable to prevent relegation to the 3rd league at the time. Or will it be Heiko Butscher again?
The former central defender has stepped in as interim coach several times – most recently at the end of last season. As the successor to Thomas Letsch, who was on leave, he and the team managed to stay in the league in the relegation game against Fortuna Düsseldorf. The Bochum team had to make up for a 3-0 first leg defeat in the second leg and prevailed in the penalty shootout. Butscher is currently coaching the VfL U23 team.
The management committees at VfL Bochum met for ten hours
So who will it be in the end? The former Schalke coach André Breitenreiter was already considered a candidate for the Bochum coaching position in the summer and could now come back into focus. The 51-year-old was coach at English second division club Huddersfield until May.
With Zeidler, VfL fell into crisis at the start of the season. Just one point from the first seven Bundesliga games of the season was not enough for the 62-year-old to be allowed to continue. The 1:3 on Saturday at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim meant his exit from the bottom of the table.
The club announced that there had been a “thorough analysis” with the sporting management and the team. “There is a lack of conviction that VfL can achieve the goal of staying in the league with the current personnel constellation,” was the conclusion of the discussions.
The presidium discussed the double expulsion for ten hours on Sunday. Managing directors Ilja Kaenzig and Lettau were also allowed to take a stand. Exciting: Lettau wasn’t exactly considered a big supporter of Zeidler. So apparently he doesn’t have to go. Lettau’s expulsion is a surprise anyway. His squad planning was praised by almost all those responsible in the club – regardless of where he was in the table. Zeidler, on the other hand, essentially had three points to his credit.
Tactics: Before the season, Zeidler introduced the 4-4-2 system with a diamond. The plan: Courageous offensive pressing should be successful in this formation. Problem: As soon as one player doesn’t follow suit, the whole team follows suit. The tactic only worked in tests.
Team: The charismatic Zeidler was quite popular in the dressing room. Nevertheless, some decisions were also criticized by players. For example, the many interruptions in training, the too bold start-up tactics or the ban on beer after games. Fact: Now the team is responsible.
Stagnation: Zeidler listened to his critics and repeatedly compromised. But no matter what he changed, it didn’t get any better. In the end he even switched to the old successful 4-3-3 formation. But the squad is no longer optimally aligned. That also went wrong.
Whoever takes over VfL in the end: the coach has a mammoth task ahead of him. The Bochum attack has been shockingly harmless so far this season. The team has only scored seven goals, in the Bundesliga only newly promoted FC St. Pauli scored even less. In addition, the defense is full of holes and the team seems unsettled.
dpa/pk
