Christian Ilzer’s people-centric approach revives Hoffenheim spirit

Less talk, more action? Having stepped out of Austrian football for the first time in his career, Christian Ilzer has taken the opposite approach as he seeks to establish himself and to find his feet at Hoffenheim. Appointed to the top job little more than a week ago, the new head coach took over an alarming situation, with his new European-qualified team teetering just above a weak-looking bottom three. Yet he immediately felt that making time to chat was the best start. “Of course, it takes a lot of conversations to find out what makes the guys tick,” Ilzer enthused. “When you’re dealing with people, one of the most important skills is listening. That was one of my main jobs.”

In an era when a head coach’s ability to create their own brand is still thought of as imperative, taking a moment to assess exactly why Pellegrino Matarazzo’s reign fell apart needed to happen. Understanding, rather than recrimination. The degree of faith Ilzer has already fostered is evident. There were many moments when Hoffenheim could have shouldered arms on his Saturday debut against RB Leipzig, but they never did. Three times they came from behind and after the last of those, Jacob Bruun Larsen headed in a winner to inspire the closest you will get to delirium in the stands of the ProZero Arena.

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If there were cosmetic changes made to the lineup by Ilzer – switching from three at the back to four for example – it was clear the major change was mood. Hoffenheim reacted quickly to conceding the opener to Willi Orban but after Adam Hlozek’s soft-shoe shuffle and delightful finish, they were losing again 105 seconds later when Antonio Nusa – who was again outstanding – pinged one into the top corner. They motored again, with the teenager Tom Bischof scoring a delicious free-kick, and when a Stanley Nsoki own goal edged the visitors in front for a third time, it was Hlozek’s turn again. A big-money signing from Leverkusen whose slow adaptation has been symptomatic of Die Kraichgauer’s torpor so far this term, Hlozek’s click into gear here underlined that Ilzer’s ability to get into the heads of his players has been quick. “I sense from the boys that everyone is really up for this,” said Bruun Larsen.

At 47, Ilzer has little time to waste – and a recent history of the transformative. That he was a double winner with Sturm Graz last season, taking the title away from another one of the Red Bulls in Salzburg and delivering his club to the Champions League proper for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, is his headline but to not acknowledge what went before is to overlook the breadth of his achievements. Even before the title, Ilzer won the prestigious Bruno prize for best coach (and Sturm the prize for best team) in 2023 after their ÖFB-Pokal win. His team played daring football and as soon as Hoffenheim signed his partner-in-crime Andreas Schicker, appointed as managing director for sports a month ago, the path seemed set.

And there is the expectation distilled, even before Saturday’s hijinks. Ilzer has started spectacularly and will be expected to carry on. There may not be the fan pressure of other clubs of a similar status here, but the expectations in the boardroom are real, as Materazzo discovered. He is not the first to have the plug pulled on him after drifting into rocky territory. Sebastian Hoeness, the best coach in the Bundesliga apart from Xabi Alonso since he arrived at Stuttgart, never received the faith to build in the medium term. Despite Ilzer’s hot start, he will be under no illusions that a steady upward incline is necessary to allow him the right to develop this team, whatever the good reputation he arrived with might be.

His opposite number on Saturday Marco Rose could empathise. This is not the first time that Hoffenheim and Leipzig have been compared, but it is a relevant equivalence in this situation when we look at pressure coming from the club’s culture behind closed doors – rather than that on the terraces which other Bundesliga fans mock both clubs’ lack of and look down their noses at. The cliche of a ‘damaging’ defeat is overused but this certainly was to Rose, who is skating on the thinnest of ice which will give way beneath his feet if improvement is not dramatic and almost immediate.

Bayern Munich 3-0 Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund 4-0 SC Freiburg, Wolfsburg 1-0 Union Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 Heidenheim, VfB Stuttgart 2-0 VfL Bochum, Hoffenheim 4-3 RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Werder, Holstein Kiel 0-3 Mainz, Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 FC St. Pauli

A month ago Leipzig were level on points with Bayern. This morning they are eight behind (a fact perhaps not entirely disconnected with the injury to Xavi Simons), and facing a make-or-break week in the Champions League as they face the daunting task of travelling to Italy to face Inter still without a single point on the board. Rose is the longest-serving coach in the club’s top-flight history and a Leipzig native, but he is under no illusions.

“There is a lack of commitment and fire,” Rose lamented, “and I have to take the blame if I don’t manage to get the team to bring that on to the pitch.” The coming days will tell if that proves fatal. It is detail that is unlikely to escape the notice of the acutely sensitive Ilzer as he starts work on his own kingdom.

Talking points

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• Bayern, then, move six points clear after Friday night’s 3-0 win over Augsburg, built on Harry Kane’s hat-trick – “another one (DJ Khaled voice,” as Alphonso Davies wrote on his match ball – before next week’s Klassiker at Borussia Dortmund. That the latter are at home at least offers the possibility of competitiveness; Nuri Sahin’s side continued their Jekyll and Hyde, home/away form with a resounding win over their rabbits Freiburg, in which Maximilian Beier and Felix Nmecha – big signings who have endured sticky starts to their BVB careers – particularly shone.

• A touch of deja vu in Leverkusen, where Patrik Schick rolled back the months to spring with his role in Bayer’s (obviously) comeback win against Heidenheim. The champions trailed 2-0 at home in a little over 20 minutes but the Czech striker, only in the team due to the unavailability of Victor Boniface, struck a sublime hat-trick to help turn things around and get the champions a first win in almost a month. Schick has been a less celebrated exponent of the Kylian Mbappé/Kevin De Bruyne school of sitting out internationals to recover an optimum physical and mental level. “I thought it would be better for me if I stayed in Leverkusen and worked here, and then I would be prepared for the Bundesliga. Now I am fit and fighting.”

• Dino Toppmöller and Eintracht Frankfurt are flying high, second in the table after a 1-0 win over Werder Bremen; a forgettable game decided by a thrilling goal, with the craft of Hugo Ekitiké setting up Mario Götze for the most high-class, Mario Götze-esque finish. The World Cup final winning goalscorer (as he very much does not enjoy being defined as) has the “grandad” role in this Eintracht team, as he refers to it, now 32 and in the midst of a team with an average age of just over 24. “Mario gives us a lot of support,” enthused the excellent defender Nnamdi Collins. “You can learn a lot from him.”