Goalkeeper Manuel Riemann wore the number one shirt at VfL Bochum for eight years. Until May 18th. Then VfL lost 1:4 in Bremen on the final matchday of last season and had to go into relegation. After that game, Riemann is said to have raged again in the dressing room. The club quickly took him out of the squad. Bochum managed relegation with more luck than sense. There was a dispute before the labor court with Riemann, who was not allowed to take part until the last year of his contract.
The 36-year-old Upper Bavarian returned to training on Monday. A verdict in Riemann’s favor appeared to be looming before the labor court, which is why VfL preferred to reach an agreement with him out of court and is now letting him train again. But now Riemann wears number 31. The new coach Dieter Hecking says: “Our number one is Patrick Drewes and number two is Timo Horn – there’s nothing to change that for now.”
Goalkeeper Riemann’s career began in August 2007 with a compliment from Uli Hoeneß. “He has magnets in his gloves,” said the then FC Bayern manager on the occasion of a first round cup game that the Munich team only won on penalties with a lot of luck against third division club Wacker Burghausen. Riemann, 18 years old at the time, even saved two penalties. Burghausen’s coach Ingo Anderbrügge said at the time about his great goalkeeper: “In terms of talent, he’s like Kahn or Lehmann, but he lacks a bit of obsession.”
These words must have gone to Riemann’s head, because in the years that followed he developed an almost infamous obsession. When things weren’t going well at VfL in recent years, Riemann raged through the penalty area and warned those in front of him. Shortly before Bochum’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 2021, he finished a second division game in Düsseldorf, although he badly sprained his foot in the fourth minute. With every kick and every shot he grimaced in pain, but he definitely didn’t want to be replaced because the day before his beloved grandfather, Hans Humpa, a former sixty-something and Riemann’s most important football ally, had died. After the game and a 3-0 win, the then VfL coach Thomas Reis said: “Manu is absolutely crazy.”
Riemann insulted teammates and argued with coaches
And Riemann became more and more whimsical. He hasn’t given interviews for two years because he feels badly treated by the media. In September 2022, according to media reports, he insulted fellow players during training as “abnormals” – and publicly apologized for it. He was happy to show former VfL coach Thomas Letsch during the game which players needed to be replaced. Riemann was not squeamish with one or two of his colleagues, but after the aforementioned 4-1 defeat in Bremen he is said to have taken things too far. When asked at the time whether the rumor that Riemann had slapped teammate Matus Bero was true, sports director Patrick Fabian replied in May: “I don’t want to comment on rumors.” On Monday, the club wrote in the press release about the out-of-court settlement with Riemann : “In retrospect, VfL Bochum 1848 once again states that, contrary to some rumors circulating, there were never any scuffles.” Riemann also commented not on Monday.
At VfL they are excited to see what Riemann’s return will trigger in the squad. Some people are said to still not have a good opinion of the goalkeeper, which could damage the collective mood that has improved since coach Hecking recently took office. Hecking sounded reserved when he said: “The out-of-court settlement with Manu is a decision made by the club and we support it – but some are already looking in the rear-view mirror. If something has happened in the cabin, one person will have more to do with it and the other will have less.”
This Saturday VfL will be visiting VfB Stuttgart. It is not to be expected that Riemann will then be part of the squad. In Bochum they would be really happy if the goalkeeper didn’t cause too much unrest in the dressing room.
