VfL Bochum 2025/26 season preview: Hecking hopes to repay full backing | OneFootball

After four seasons in the Bundesliga, the inevitable happened. Bochum are relegated to 2. Bundesliga, where they spent a decade before winning top-flight promotion in 2021. Including big wins against Bayern, Dortmund and Leverkusen, it was an eventful ride among the big boys, although survival has always been their target.

Die Unabsteigbaren (the Unrelegattables) will now have a different goal in Germany’s second-tier. Some 20 years ago, Marcel Koller managed to return Bochum to the Bundesliga at the first time of asking. Dieter Hecking will now hope for a similar outcome in his first full season at Vonovia Ruhrstadion.

How was their 2024/25?

Bochum had two points after 13 rounds in the Bundesliga last term. They’ve conceded 16 goals in three games against Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt. And, their first victory did come off the pitch as a lighter thrown by a Union Berlin fan hitting Patrick Drewes turned a 1-0 draw into a 2-0 forfeit win for Bochum.

They followed it up with back-to-back home wins against direct rivals Heidenheim and St. Pauli as the club’s decision to replace Peter Zeidler with Hecking worked like wonders. Coming from a 3-0 deficit to snatch a point against RB Leipzig was another positive stride,

However, the only wins they registered between mid-February and the final game of the season were against Dortmund and Bayern. Bochum’s relegation was confirmed when they lost 4-1 to Mainz in what would be the last Bundesliga game at Vonovia Ruhrstadion for at least a year.

The Coach

The atmosphere that night wasn’t all dark and gloomy. The club already decided to stick with Hecking no matter the outcome, and the fans showed that they’re backing the experienced coach.

The 2014/15 DFB Pokal winner with Wolfsburg last coached in 2. Bundesliga with his second stint at Nürnberg. Hecking managed to brought Almania Aachen to the Bundesliga at the same time Koller did the same for Bochum in 2006.

Hamburger SV hired him expecting a similar effect in 2019, but they went their separate ways after a single season where they finished fourth. The 60-year-old is edging closer to his 800th competitive match as a coach.

Transfers

As expected from a team relegated to a lower division, Bochum had to go through a huge squad overhaul. But, if you ask the fans, the retirement of their 39-year-old captain Anthony Losilla is the one that hurts the most.

The Frenchman will continue the next chapter of his football career at Bochum alongside Cristian Gamboa (also retired) as the club gave them managerial and scouting roles, respectively. Meanwhile, Myron Boadu, Tom Krauß, Georgios Masouras and Jakov Medic all returned to their parent clubs after loan deals.

The center-back position has seen the biggest overturn with Tim Oermann (Leverkusen) and Bernardo (Hoffenheim) signing for Bundesliga clubs, while Ivan Ordets’ expired contract hasn’t been renewed. The vastly experienced Kevin Vogt will be expected to lead the transition after joining from Union Berlin.

Philipp Strompf (Ulm) and Colin Kleine-Bekel (Kiel) also signed from teams who ended the 2024/25 season in relegation. Bochum are also trying the approach that had Elversberg enjoying a successful season in 2. Bundesliga.

With the loan signings of Kjell Wätjen (Dortmund) and Francis Onyeka (Leverkusen), they now have two promising youngsters to help the promotion push. Extending Gerrit Holtmann’s contract by two years could also make a big difference. Ibrahim Sissoko is expected to lead the attacking line after signing from fellow relegated club Saint-Étienne.

Pre-season preparations

Bochum will host Bayer Leverkusen this Sunday to close the pre-season fixture list. While Hecking’s side enjoyed an unbeaten streak, Leverkusen suffered a shocking 5-1 defeat to Flamengo U20 in Erik ten Hag’s unofficial debut.

The highlight result from Bochum’s friendly matches was a 5-4 victory over Young Boys. The Blues turned a 4-1 first-half deficit to beat the 17-time Swiss champions. Former Dortmund youngster Moritz Broschinski and 21-year-old Samuel Bamba were among their best performers in the test games.

Predicted XI

Horn; Kleine-Bekel, Vogt, Strompf; Wittek, Ibrahima Sissoko, Bero, Wätjen, Hotmann; Ibrahim Sissoko, Broschinski

Unless French clubs succeed in bringing back the midfielder to Ligue 1, commentators should embrace Ibrahima and Ibrahim Sissoko starting for one team. Since the transfer window will be open for more than a month, there could be more changes to the squad.

Fixtures list

Bochum will start their season away at Darmstadt before entertaining Elversberg. After a Pokal test at BFC Dynamo, they face fellow Blues Schalke away at home. Their final two games of the season will be against fellow promotion hopefuls Hannover and Karlsruhe.

Expectation & Prediction

It’s no secret that a relegated team will always aim to immediately get back to the higher division, but the recent seasons of 2. Bundesliga showed that it’s not as easy as early predictions sound.

We’ll know more once the season starts, but it’s hard to put Bochum among the favorites for promotion in one of the best second-tier leagues. It'll be interesting to see how committed the club will be to the plan with Hecking after what happened to Thomas Reis and Thomas Letsch.