Bundesliga 2025/26 Tactical Previews: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | OneFootball

The fifth of our 18 Bundesliga tactical previews to be released here on Get German Football News takes us to Sinsheim. Yes, it’s time for the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim team check. Those not necessarily fond of this club will find this report to be a tough read. That applies especially to Germans. The confirmation of controversial agent Roger Wittmann’s stadium ban doesn’t do much for us, not least because many of Wittmann’s clients (such as Fisnik Asllani, Arthur Chaves, Umut Tohumcu, and Tim Lemperle) are set to thrive at this club this season.

Pretty much all of the disarray enveloping this club at the end of last season has dissipated. The summer signings, the loan returnees, and several talents from the TSG II side that earned promotion to the 3. Liga last year have helped guide Christian Ilzer’s TSG to eight victories in the pre-season friendlies. It’s no exaggeration to consider Hoffenheim European contenders this season. They might even possibly finish in the top four. Even the total transfer flops from club patron Dietmar Hopp’s €80m cash injection last autumn are doing better.

It appears as if the shifty underbelly of this club has prevailed after all. The once-maligned duo Austrian duo of Ilzer and sporting director Andreas Schicker may presently preside over the building of a Champions League dynasty. A successful Austrian takeover of Germany. Lovely. There does still remain plenty of resistance to all of this within the club’s front office and the TSG fan-base. Protests can be expected. How long will such protests last, however, if the team keeps churning out successes?

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

All throughout this piece, the writer experiments with new rhetorical ways of describing his “gritted teeth”. The better the news, the harder the oral brace. Getting through this write-up hasn’t been easy. Much like navigating one’s way out of the parking lot at the PreZero Arena, there’s been plenty of times during which maximum reserves of patience and calm have been needed. Large reserves of nicotine gum also proved useful.

Major personnel shifts, Hoffenheim

Estimated Summer Transfer Balance = +€8.9 million

With teeth gritted to the absolute maximum clamp, one must admit that Schicker and staff have delivered this summer. The TSG sporting director promised to whip his 39-man-roster into shape. That’s precisely what he did by organizing loan outs for Attila Szalai, Stanley Nsoki, and Erencan Yardımcı. Schicker even managed to secure loan fees for Nsoki and striker Haris Tabakovic. Further squad trimming came via the sales of Anton Stach and Marius Bülter. It very much looks to be the case that the chief personnel exec can offload the rest of his dead weight before the transfer window closes.

On the arrival front Leon Avdullahu (€8m), Koki Machida (€4.75m), and Wouter Burger (€4m) all came aboard at reasonable prices. Bernardo, Vladimir Coufal, and Tim Lemperle were all procured on frees. A squad of 33 professionals remains a mite too large for Bundesliga standards, but such a fact also remains immaterial for a rich club like this one. More teeth gnashing from this Bundesliga purist. The next section also grinds German molars down to the base. One must accord more credit to Ilzer’s team for their performance in the pre-season friendlies.

Notes from camp, Hoffenheim

A perfect set of test fixtures. Eight exhibitions. Eight victories. The first real test came against Elversberg on July 19th. Ilzer rolled out the distinctive “Red Bull” 4-2-2-2 and everyone looked great in a 5-2 win. Defenders Arthur Chaves, Robin Hranac, and Bernardo coordinated play out of the back perfectly. Avdullahu and Finn Ole Becker kept the midfield silky smooth. Tim Lemperle, Max Moerstedt, and Muhammed Damar all scored. The young prospects genuinely fired on all pistons.

The two returning Elversberg loanees, Damar and newly re-signed team talisman Asllani, scored in the next test fixture as well. Moerstedt and Umut Tuhumcu added goals too in the 4-0 blanking of FC Homburg. This happened to be the match in which Valentin Gendrey suffered his serious injury. Even that news wouldn’t slow the Sinsheimers down. Asllani and Berrnardo scored in the next game. Andrej Kramaric added a hat trick off the bench in a 5-1 thrashing of Darmstadt.

We then got a double win in a double header against Bremen. Machida opened his (unofficial) TSG account in the first match. Burger did the same in the second. Even total transfer flop Alexander Prass – a left-back unnaturally deployed as a right flank attacker – got a goal in during the “battle of the B-squads”. Ilzer again went with the “Red Bull” 4-2-2-2 in the final tune-up against Metz. Lemperle grabbed a brace. Damar, Moerstedt, and Burger also scored again in an 8-0 drubbing.

Winners from camp, Hoffenheim

Max Moerstedt, CF

This one should be fairly obvious. Ilzer actually faces some difficult decisions when it comes to his double striker set. Moerstedt even outplayed his far more famous colleague Asllani whenever the TSG trainer attempted to work a short-striker into the mix. The heavily capped Germany U19 international excels at those distinctive German attacking deployments such as the “halb-neun” and “Anhängende Spitze”. The former FC Bayern Munich campus product who evokes some light touches of where the likes of Maximilian Beier and Nick Woltemade were during their teenage years.

Moerstedt got his name on the scoresheet across three competitions last year, scoring in the Europa League and adding assists in the Bundesliga and Pokal. He can definitely kick. Probably the only obstacle to him staying concerns the fact that the returning Elversberg loan duo of Asllani and Damar also turned in good camps and have already waited their turn. It would still much behoove the TSG to keep him on the senior roster this season. The 19-year-old proved himself more than capable of contributing right away.

Leon Avdullahu, CM

Yep. This team won’t miss Tom Bischof or Anton Stach at all. In point of fact, it looks as if they’ve upgraded. The heavily capped Swiss youth international happens to be quite skilled. He’s a bossy ankle-biter in midfield, never shying away from an intrepid tackle. Perhaps the only thing that can slow the 21-year-old down concerns the fact that he might hurt himself whilst engaging in said tackles. Christ, did he not look like a player contesting pre-season friendlies at all. Someone must have placed quite the boulder on Avdullahu’s shoulder. He clearly aims to prove something.

Look for Avdullahu to feature on the Swiss senior team sometime soon. He’s also eligible to represent Kosovo. That might have had something to do with what we all witnessed this summer. Bayer Leverkusen surely wish they had signed this player this summer as he has all the tools to be the next Granit Xhaka. His new midfield partner Burger also checks out. The two of them can work any manner of split-staggers in double six set-ups. The two of them played together at Basel for a time. For some reason, the chemistry still sticks.

Robin Hranac, CB

The Czech defender – just like his fellow 2024 total transfer flop Alexander Prass – turned in a very solid camp and presented himself as a viable alternative in central defense. The two slotting centre-back slots still likely belong to Arthur Chaves and Koki Machida, but the arrival of Hranac’s Czech compatriot Vladimir Coufal might leave Ilzer leaning in the direction of giving Hranac more starts. The 25-year-old – who does still possess some match fitness issues – still has a couple of months to get himself up to snuff before Ozan Kabak returns.

We’re actually not quite finished with the TSG defensive corps as it’s worth noting that German Nigerian Kevin Akpoguma also turned in a decent camp. The author can scarcely believe he just wrote that last sentence. Young prospects Hennes Behrens (20) and Tim Drexler (20) were good as well. Sigh. Very few, if any, weak links to report here. The defense kept four clean sheets and conceded only three goals in the six meaningful friendlies. It’s going to be a long season for those who don’t like this club.

Losers from camp, Hoffenheim

Andrej Kramaric, ATTM

In some respects, it seems sacrilege to declare one of German football’s best ever “space-interpreters” a “loser” of any sort. As covered above, the legendary Croat marksmen also contributed plenty off the bench in the pre-season tune-ups. It’s nevertheless the case that the 34-year-old won’t be a regular starter in Sinsheim this season. Chalk it up to a mixture of an influx of younger talent and the good-old factor of old “father time”.

It certainly has nothing to do with the manner in which Kramaric openly criticized club management last season. The same applies to Dennis Geiger and his sensational tirade. Two talented players simply got pushed down the depth chart and are now considered expendable. Bundesliga fans can at least take solace in the fact that Kramaric isn’t going anywhere, at least not until his contract expires at the end of the season. No one can pay TSG his true worth.

Grischa Prömel, CM

Another incredibly popular and talented player who no longer has a home. The former KSC and Union Berlin man – also a German senior team call-up – made his comeback from a long injury layoff during the preseason. There’s simply no way the 30-year-old can find his way past Avdullahu and Burger in midfield. Damar, Asllani and Bazoumana Touré have him out-cornered in attack as well. Prömel too enters the final year of his contract, but probably isn’t moving.

Tactical Scout, Hoffenheim

Welcome to the “RB/TSG” 4-2-2-2. Before considering this particular tactical constellation a Leipzig concoction, note that it was actually at Hoffenheim that Ralf Rangnick first perfected the idea of this modern type of football. What we look set to see from this team this season can get quite dangerous. It’s both compact and aggressive, not to mention asymmetrically flexible and deadly on the counter. Ilzer also seems to have all his actors well drilled on the press.

Lineup—Hoffenheim (Projected)

The “deep six” outfielders (if one can indeed call them that) are fairly easy to predict. Which players Ilzer taps for the front four are anyone’s guess. Moerstedt, Asllani, and even Bazoumana Touré could start on the top axis. Touré was actually the one who impressed in Damar’s place in the Metz friendly. Damar worked on his unnatural right-hand side whilst Touré floated around deftly. Split-staggers could work on virtually any axis here.

Germans would naturally be over the moon to see hosting Hansa Rostock upset the visiting Rhein-Neckar-Blues on Saturday afternoon. It nevertheless looks highly unlikely. Ilzer could probably start half the TSG II team in the outfield and the match would prove nothing more than a cakewalk. Ugh. Teeth are firmly gritted beyond what was thought to be anatomically possible.

GGFN | Peter Weis