Matarazzo to stop crash
Hoffenheim has apparently found a new coach
02/07/2023, 4:10 p.m
With André Breitenreiter, TSG Hoffenheim got off to a strong start in the Bundesliga season: After six games, the team was in fourth place, but then a crash set in. Trainer Breitenreiter has to go, now a successor is quickly determined.
Three points separate TSG Hoffenheim from relegation after a disastrous start to 2023. After being in fourth place in the Bundesliga table after six games, an increasingly accelerating crash set in: the haul of seven points from 13 games finally cost coach André Breitenreiter his job at the weekend – now the successor is apparently in the starting blocks: According to information from several media, Pellegrino Matarazzo is to be taken over by someone who knows the lower regions of the table well: The American was released by VfB Stuttgart in October 2022, the Swabians were in a relegation zone at the time. Matarazzo has also already worked for his new employer.
In 2017, Matarazzo signed on for the first time at TSG Hoffenheim: Coming from the junior division of 1. FC Nürnberg, the 45-year-old took over the U17 side of the Bundesliga club. Just a few months later, head coach Julian Nagelsmann brought him to the pros as an assistant coach. After Nagelsmann left RB Leipzig, the two parted ways again: While the ex-boss finally ended up at FC Bayern Munich via Leipzig, Matarazzo initially stayed in the second rank at TSG Hoffenheim under Nagelsmann’s successor Alfred Schreuder.
In December 2019, the US-Italian was promoted to head coach himself: He led the then second division team to promotion and sensationally to 9th place in the Bundesliga the following season. In the second year, too, they managed to stay up in the league with 15th place. A catastrophic false start led to the separation after almost three years: VfB Stuttgart only scored five points under Matarazzo from the first new games of the 2021/22 season – far too few to be able to keep the job.
But now really: “Roll up the field from behind”
Breitenreiter, who only took over the post in Hoffenheim before the current season, announced during the winter break that he was “very confident that we will have a really good second half of the season.” According to the former professional, you want to “roll up the field from behind”. Only one point from the first three Bundesliga games of the year and the cup loss against RB Leipzig had completely used up the remaining trust of those responsible: After a 2:5 against VfL Bochum he had to go. “In André we were able to hire a coach who, from day one, not only had a high level of acceptance among the team, but also among the entire staff, our employees at the office and all the fans and partners,” said Alexander Rosen, the professional football director the trainer. “We thank him for the pleasant cooperation and the many positive moments, especially at the beginning of our time together.”
So now Matarazzo will celebrate a double return: to the Bundesliga and to TSG Hoffenheim. It’s an obvious solution, the former youth coach had never left the region. Matarazzo’s commitment is not fixed yet, but it is apparently imminent. TSG Hoffenheim will welcome Bayer Leverkusen next Saturday. Then she has to quickly rediscover the qualities from the start of the season, after she hadn’t won any of the last nine Bundesliga games and only scored two points (Saturday 3.30 p.m. / live ticker on ntv.de).