1899 finishes year with style

1899 looks ahead to next season with great hope as the finished the year with a 3-2 victory over Schalke 04. With the victory, Ralf Rangnick's side extend their unbeaten string to four and finish seventh in the table. While there is naturally some sadness over the falling fortunes in the Rückrunde, overall the long term growth of the club looks highly promising.

Of particular importance was the inclusion of Boris Vukčević,Isaac Vorsah and Pascal Groß in Herr Rangnick's starting eleven. At the ages of 19, 20 and 17, each showed very well and promise to be a part of the clubs future. 1899 opened the scoring twenty-six minutes in as Carlos Eduardo flew down the left channel before crossing to Demba Ba to redirect in from the six-yard box. The match was evened only four minutes later as Ivan Rakitić's corner from the right was headed in by Mladen Krstajić at the near post. Schalke took the lead at the thirty-fourth minute as Benedikt Höwedes came right side of the box and just before Isaac Vorsah could reach him he crossed to Jefferson Farfán to finish from five metres. After the break nineteen year-old Fabrício entered the match for Groß and did well for his claim for the club to seek out his contract from Flamengo. Four minutes into the half Carlos Eduardo evened up the match with a perfect free-kick over the wall and into the top left corner from (hmm) around twenty metres. With only a minute remaining Coritiba product Rafinha brought down his countryman Fabrício in the area with the spot pointed to. Carlos Eduardo stepped up and capped the end of the season perfectly driving the ball into the net.

1899 spoils Bayern title hopes

Despite not having a lot to play for 1899 played Bayern München to a 2-2 draw. While the single point has little impact for Ralf Rangnick's side, it is a moral victory to build upon and additionally ends Bayern's hopes for winning the Bundesliga title.

A capacity crowd at Rhein-Neckar-Arena witnessed a end-to-end match in which the visitors took the lead sixteen minutes in with Franck Ribéry netting Lukas Podolski's provision. However only seven minutes later Demba Ba squared the match with a drive that took a strong deflection into the back of the net. The fast pace continued with Carlos Eduardo putting 1899 ahead two minutes before the half hour. Bayern raced back and after a number of close efforts Luca Toni leveled the match just before the whistle. After the restart Bayern was desperate to find the winning goal, given the draw would end their chances at the title but that is precisely what happened as 1899 held them back.

After the difficult slide in the Rückrunde, 1899 has quietly slipped into a three match unbeaten streak. Perfect to build on for next year as 1899 finishes the year next Saturday against Schalke.

Hoffenheim defeats Arminia Bielefeld 2-0

After twelve straight weeks of being without a win in the Rückrunde, 1899 won its second in four days, defeating Arminia Bielefeld 2-0. Bielefeld, in a relegation fight, were focused on limiting scoring chances and with the exception of a few costly events accomplished their tactical plan.

Bielefeld were clearly the leader of the match early but after coming up empty on a few good chances they allowed the opening goal as a long pass deflected off the chess of defender Andre Mijatović straight to Wellington who drove the ball to the opposite lower left corner. The home side came back but scoring chances gradually slowed. Finally with eight minutes left Mijatović was adjudged a penalty as he had contact with Demba Ba on the left side of the area. It was a controversial call but but regardless, Sejad Salihović converted from the spot and 1899 had a 2-0 victory.

1899 Hoffenheim ends losing streak defeating Köln

After twelve difficult weeks without a win 1899 Hoffenheim earned its second win of the Rückrunde, defeating Köln 2-0 at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena. While the victory comes too late for European football, it was an important step after the recent fallout with Ralf Rangnick and management.

After a highly defensive start in which Köln blanketed 1899's advances, Sejad Salihović was able to carve out a few openings. With the start of the second half, 1899 took control using a 4-2-2-2 jump started by the Bosnian Salihović. After coming close early in the half Salihović's free-kick from twenty-five metres curled into the top right corner. Köln, who seem to be thinking more of next year when their captain arrives from Bayern, offered little going forward and with twenty-two minutes left Demba Ba drove the ball in from twenty-metres to make it 2-0. The lead could have been extended with eleven minutes left after the penalty was awarded for Ba being brought but Boubacar Sanogo couldn't convert but regardless the match ended 2-0 in 1899's favour

Hoffenheim first to last continues with loss to Wolfsburg

1899's spiral down in the Rückrunde continued with a 4-0 blowout at the hands of Wolfsburg. The loss deepens the clubs misfortune since the restart as they have drifted to ninth in the table with only a single win in 2009.

If there is a positive for Ralf Rangnick's side it was that they held first place Wolfsburg scoreless for the first sixty minutes. That aside the walls came crashing down as Edin Džeko opened the scoring at the sixty-sixth minute and added two more goals within the next twelve minutes. Once on a roll the combination of Džeko,Zvjezdan Misimović and Grafite tore apart 1899's defenders. To add to the problems Andreas Beck was shown a red-card late via a penalty call that Grafite converted to make it 4-0.

Quite possibly the most difficult situation is Ralf Rangnick's ultimatum to walk out unless signficant investment is made in the off-season. While that might be the truth, using the media to lobby for investment with threats to leave the club is no way to turn a losing streak around in the final month of the season.

1899 looks to respond against Hertha Berlin

Stumbling throughout the Rückrunde with only a single win, 1899 Hoffenheim welcomes Hertha BSC to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena on Friday afternoon. Six points out of a Europa League spot with only six remaining matches, Ralf Rangnick has cast aside ideas of playing on the European stage saying "There's no sense in aiming for that kind of target any more". For the match he will have 'keeper Timo Hildebrand back but will miss Andreas Ibertsberger, Matthias Jaissle and Bosnia and Herzegovina international Vedad Ibišević to injury as well as Carlos Eduardo and Luiz Gustavo to suspension.

1899's winless streak continues

1899's incredible start of the year is long forgotten now as they extended their win-less streak in the Rückrunde to ten matches as they played bottom of the table Karlsruhe to a 1-1 draw.

After a strong start 1899 took the lead two minutes before the half-hour as Bosnia international Sejad Salihović accepted Selim Teber's provision and struck a powerful drive from just outside the box. The lead only last five minutes as out of the doghouse Australian play-maker Joshua Kennedy split 1899 defenders as he played through Sebastian Freis for a quick strike to square the match. Three minutes into the new half Sejad Salihović's perfect cross found Selim Teber to head in from close range and without fail 1899 had the one goal lead. After missing a few chances to increase the lead thoughts of returning to the win column ended with twenty-five minutes left as Giovanni Federico intercepted a deflected ball via Andreas Beck before turning and scoring from the edge of the area. With a minute remaining Gustavo was shown his second yellow and playing a man down 1899 was close to dropping the point as Federico hit the post. However the match ended in a 2-2 draw dropping 1899 four points off a Europa League spot.

bitter home defeat for 1899

Stanislav Šesták put his name to the score-sheet three times as Bochum defeated 1899 3-0 in a bitter home defeat. The loss extends the win-less streak in the Rückrunde to nine matches with Ralf Rangnick's club a near mirror opposite of the first half of the year. Besides the Slovak's three goal out-pouring the match was marked with both Daniel Haas and Carlos Eduardo being sent off with straight red-cards just after the hour, with the later Eduardo's for violent conduct that is likely to be reviewed by the DFB disciplinary committee for further action. However the two-man disadvantage was not the cause for the loss as once again 1899's once powerful attack was a meager trickle and did not go unnoticed by disappointed home fans.

After early threats by Christoph Janker and Carlos Eduardo came close, Bochum took the lead three minutes before the break as a corner was cleared out to Shinji Ono, with the Japanese internationals shot redirected in by Šesták to make it 1-0. VfL increased the lead ten minutes in the half as Philipp Bönig's long throw in was brought down Šesták, who after juggling the ball free, volleyed into the net from sixteen metres. Down by two, 1899's chances ended on the hour as Eduardo was shown a straight red-card for a errant swing of the arm and followed up with Daniel Haas's exclusion a minute later. With a long ball sent Šesták, Haas raced out of the box and completely upended the striker with the referee having no choice. Austria's Ramazan Özcan came in to mind the goal before Šesták adding his third with twenty-one minutes left as Paul Freier, after completely out-witting 1899 defenders, providing him the ball in the middle of the box for a perfect finish.

1899 now gets set for Baden-Württemberg rivals Karlsruher SC in need of a win.

Nicht schon wieder

1899 Hoffenheim's hopes for European Football took a further hit as they lost 1-0 to HSV. The loss extends 1899's win-less streak to eight matches and further emphasizes the start contrast with the Rückrunde compared to the first half of the year. In the first nine weeks of the Hinrude, 1899 amassed twenty-four points while pounding an astounding twenty-four balls into the net. However while the loss of Vedad Ibišević over the same period in the second-half of the year, they have only nine points for their toils and ten goals. If ever there was an example of the impact of the Bosnian striker Ibišević has been, without him 1899 aren't playing for European competition but at the level of a relegation battler.

With the return to health of Sejad Salihović, 1899 coach Ralf Rangnick was able to return to the 4-3-3 using the Bosnia international with Demba Ba and Chinedu Obasi. Attacking intent aside it was Andreas Beck who stole the show early on as he stole the ball from José Paolo Guerrero deep within the box with a perfect sliding tackle with other heroics to come later. Seventeen minutes in Marcell Jansen's pinpoint cross found Jonathan Pitroipa in the close range but 1899 breathed a sigh of relief as his attempt glanced off the post. After Demba Ba's close range attempt was denied, Pitroipa gave HSV the lead two minutes before the half-hour. On a near sixty metre run Piotr Trochowski split though the 1899 defenders before sending the ball through to the Pitroipa, who then rounded the Timo Hildebrand and sent the ball in. The goal highlighted a midfield that has not only been exposed for varied play making abilities and now relying upon long ball efforts but allowing Trochowski go through a training ground run without a single challenge. A fast counter attack nearly had HSV up 2-0 as Pitroipa sent the ball towards the goal but never giving up, Andreas Beck cleared it off the line. 1899 looked to have tied it at the seventy-fifth minute but HSV 'keeper Frank Rost dove to save Ba's close range header. In the final five minutes of the match David Jarolím was sent off with his second yellow but 1899 still couldn't break through and lost 1-0.

Alles ist noch möglich

Finding the silver lining amongst a sky of black clouds 1899 Coach Ralf Rangnick noted that his squad has lost only once in the most recent nine minutes. While true, they have also only managed one once and are now dangling on the edge of a European spot. Now with the World Cup qualification break over, 1899 must respond in the remaining matches and restore its place in the championship race with a victory over Hamburg.

The week of rest has done 1899 well as Sejad Salihović was rested from Bosnia and Herzegovina victories over Belgium and able to play along with Chinedu Obasi and Demba Ba. Long term absences Andreas Ibertsberger, Matthias Jaissle und Vedad Ibišević will be joined in the stands with Luiz Gustavo who is suspended.

HSV remembers the opening 3-0 defeat at the hands of 1899 and be looking to avenge the decision as per their coach, Martin Jol's comments:

"We haven't forgotten that match. That was a real collapse, and we want to make it better this time."

Herr Rangnick further expressed Hamburg's strength at home, yet as we have seen Wolfsburg exposed a cutting weakness and it is 1899's task to exploit it with bloodied vengeance.

bitterer Nachmittag

It was a bitter afternoon for 1899 Hoffenheim as they played Hannover 96 to a 2-2 draw, which not only extended their six match win-less streak through the Rückrunde but they lost Matthias Jaissle and Andreas Ibertsberger to long-term injury. Along with Chinedu Obasi, Vedad Ibišević and Sejad Salihović out, the new losses severely jeopardize Ralf Rangnick tactical plans for the balance of the year.

After a good start, 1899 lost Andreas Ibertsberger to injury early with Marco Terrazzino replacing him. However they were able to take the lead twenty minutes in as Selim Teber converted from the spot after Konstantin Rausch was adjudged to fouling Andreas Beck in the area. The lead didn't last long though as two minutes later a Arnold Bruggink's set piece found Hanno Balitsch, who sent the ball in from the centre of the box bringing the match even. Without further score through the break Matthias Jaissle was lost just before the hour mark to a suspected serious knee injury and was replaced by Fabricio on-loan from Flamengo, in his first match for 1899. Both sides had chances narrowly miss and with sixteen minutes remaining Arnold Bruggink's set piece once again resulted in a goal for Hannover as Mario Eggimann headed the cross in. With the end of regulation six minutes away, Selim Teber cross found Wellington who once again rescued 1899 as he sent the ball in to bring the match to a 2-2 final.

1899 faces HSV in a match that will go a long way in deciding hopes for European Football next year as VfB is closing fast.

1899 play to tough draw to Frankfurt

1899’s hopes for the championship continue on a downward slide with a 1-1 draw to Frankfurt. For the relegation threatened Frankfurt side is was cause to celebrate but for Ralf Rangnick another disappointing mark that has seen only one win since the start of the Rückrunde.

The early period of the match showed great promise, albeit with poor finishing. A repeat to the previous weekend, after missing 1899 broke its bad fortune when Marvin Compper played a long bll to ball Carlos Eduardo who chipped over the ‘keeper and into the net. 1899 ate up the pitch and had Frankfurt on their heels for the balance of the half but while they pressuring the home side without a break, they couldn’t find a way through. Once again the lack of attacking cohesiveness as seen the 1899’s fortunes turn a complete 360°. And in the same vein, as the first half was all 1899, only two minutes after the restart the match was level as Markus Steinhöfer’s cross was headed in by Michael Fink from inside the box. Now it was Frankfurt that controlled the match and with the narrowest of margins, 1899 held back the hosts from winning the match. However after Martin Fenin’s went off the crossbar late, there were no further serious chances and the match ended in a draw.

Now six points off first place and in the final Europa League spot, 1899 look towards Saturdays match against Hannover in desperate need for three points.

Chinedu Obasi joins injury list

The striker situation for 1899 Hoffenheim has went from bad for worse as the club announced that Chinedu Obasi is out for roughly four weeks. The twenty-two year old Nigerian international will be missed by the Kraichgauer club which has seen injuries ravage the attack. Along with Hinrude goal scoring matching Vedad Ibišević loss for the year and his Bosnian teammate now out Sejad Salihović, 1899 will place its hope in Boubacar Sanogo, Wellington and seventeen year-old Marco Terrazzino.

begeisternden Offensivfussball

Like the nine goal attack-rich match in der Hinrunde, 1899 and Werder Bremen put on a remarkable offensive Football display today at Rhein-Neckar-Arena. Equally as remarkable after ninety minutes both sides were unable to break through and the match ended as a 0-0 draw. In combination of the balance of the Bundesliga matches today, 1899, Bayern, HSV and Wolfsburg are all tied with forty-two points, four behind Hertha Berlin.

Ralf Rangnick provided Boubacar Sanogo a chance to go against Bremen, who is on-loan from, pairing with Demba Ba and Edu Obasi up top. Less than a minutes into the match a Carlos Eduardo cross into the box was left untouched and the first of many bullets were dodged by Bremen. Although the match was ripe with pace and opportunity it wasn't till the half hour mark that the next opportunity was presented, this time by the visiting Bremen but a quick clearance Marvin Compper of Hugo Almeida pass kept the deadlock intact. Boubacar Sanogo came close to making Bremen regret not using him with five minutes remaining in the half as he pounded Edu Obasi's cross against the post. The post repeated the favour eight minutes after the break as German international Andreas Beck provision to Sanogo was driven off the post once again. Only three minutes later Côte d'Ivoire striker hit the post for the third time of the match as he struck from the middle of the box. After the hour mark Bremen started to assert a great attacking push but each effort was saved by goalkeeper Daniel Haas and as a late chance by Demba Ba was saved on the other end the match ended without a score.

Win-less in five matches and without a score in the last two, the rich performances of the Hinrude are long past 1899 and more and more it is clear that they needed to make a great effort to replace injured Vedad Ibišević.

sehr guten Fußball?

The brilliant start to the Bundesliga season which saw the 1899 Hoffenheim lead the table at the break has taken a drastic turn since the start of the Rückrunde. While Ralf Rangnick contends his side is playing very well, they have only one win, that against Energie Cottbus and in the remaining four matches have draw to Gladbach, Stuttgart and Dortmund. Each are "fine" results but a point a match is barely above that of a team avoiding relegation, much less one fighting for the championship.

To complicate matters 1899 has been dealt a series of injury problems with Sejad Salihović joining Vedad Ibišević in the stands with a knee injury with Gustavo, Selim Teber and Tobias Weis all suspended. Timo Hildebrand will return to the practice grounds next week leaving goalkeeping duties to Daniel Haas once again. Edu Obasi is hitting full stride with Wellington and Boubacar Sanogo pressing for the starting eleven.

Werder coach Thomas Schaaf is without Naldo to suspension and Mannschaft capped Clemens Fritz is injured. Tim Wiese has returned to practice and should be ready to go.

attack empty against Dortmund

1899's disappointing start of the Rückrunde continued with scoreless draw to Dortmund. After five matches now, Ralf Rangnick's club has nearly reversed the Hinrude start, with only one victory compared to three in the similar period.

While it was very obvious that Dortmund's Jürgen Klopp was playing for a draw at home or at least not willing to risk going forward, 1899 couldn't find a way through their strong defending tactics. Scoring attempts were very rare in the match and while Sejad Salihović said he had forgot last weeks missed penalty at the crack of time, missed opportunities against Dortmund won't make him feel better. Just past ten minutes the Bosnian internationals free-kick from just outside the box drifted wide and set the tone where 1899's chances were generally off course. However when they were Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller was up for the challenge as he was at five minutes past the half hour when he Salihović drive from eighteen metres. Following that missed opportunity Dortmund's defenders locked down the final third with the firm goal of maintaining a draw. Edu Obasi and Wellington entered for Boubacar Sanogo and Demba Ba but there was few openings available. Tensions boiled over with twelve minutes remaining as Tobias Weis was shown a straight red-card for retaliating against Sebastian Kehl and Kehl himself was sent for his second yellow. Still hopeful to find the winning goal Salihović tried from eighteen metres in added time but Weidenfeller was up the task and the match ended scoreless.

searching for first place against Dortmund

After the disappointment of last weeks draw against Stuttgart, 1899 Hoffenheim travel to face Borussia Dortmund on Saturday afternoon. The match is a difficult test against one of the Bundesliga's toughest defensive units.

However Ralf Rangnick has the luxury of both Timo Hildebrand und Chinedu Obasi back although Marvin Compper will sit out to the suspension. Herr Rangnick has given no indication on tactical formation as he has been bouncing back and forth with a 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 and is likely to face a tight 4-4-2 "diamond" by BVB coach Jürgen Klopp. BVB is hampered with the loss of Jakub Błaszczykowski, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Mats Hummels, Dedê and Lee Young-Pyo as well dealing with questionable involvement of Tinga, Mohamed Zidan and Sebastian Kehl.

With first place Hamburg welcoming Wolfsburg, a team rarely able to win on the road, 1899 is in-need of a full three points to remain close in the race. On the opposite end is BVB's unremarkable unbeaten streak at home that includes eight draws in eleven matches.

1899 misses chance for a win

1899 showed fight as they responded from last weeks 4-1 loss to Leverkusen with a 3-3 draw to Stuttgart. That withstanding the match will be remembered with bad penalty miss by Sejad Salihović as the match concluded

Demba Ba gave 1899 the lead at the twenty-fourth minute from Andreas Beck feed before turning and firing into the net. However a few minutes later Mario Gómez provided Cacau the ball and after making space in the area he drove the ball into the back of the net. Mario Gómez scored the first of this two goals, the first just past the half hour mark heading in Serdar Tasci's cross. The end to end action continued and just before the half-time whistle Demba Ba raced in alone on Jens Lehmann and drove the ball in from twelve metres. Level at the half, Stuttgart took the lead when the German international Gómez showed touch to squeeze the ball over 1899 'keeper Daniel Haas. Only four minutes Demba Ba scored the third of his day with a nice turn and drive into the net. 1899 had a great chance to win the match when the spot was pointed to deep into added time following Ludovic Magnin bringing down Carlos Eduardo. Normally sure footed Bosnian international Sejad Salihović stepped up and sent the ball over the bar and the Baden-Württemberg-Derby ended with a 3-3 draw.

Baden-Württemberg-Derby

After being overwhelmed 4-1 by Leverkusen, 1899 travel to Stuttgart for the Baden-Württemberg-Derby trying to regain the form that saw them the top club of the Hinrude. However since the restart, the wheel has fallen from the cart and have only one win of three, that being the less than impressive victory over Energie Cottbus.

In their favour, 1899 could benefit from VfB's late UEFA Cup match in Saint Petersburg, Russia and fatigue and mental preparedness could be an issue. However, that withstanding, that does not solve the production problem since the loss of Vedad Ibišević.

Against die Schwaben Ralf Rangnick not only must solve the attacking problems but likely do without Timo Hildebrand and Marvin Compper. Hildebrand is anxious to play against his former team and final decision will likely be made in the early warm-ups. Both Wellington and Edu Obasi are pushing for a place in the starting eleven with the knowledge that 1899 must be more aggressive going forward. VfB have yet to lose in the Bundesliga under Markus Babbel, who will be without Matthieu Delpierre, Timo Gebhart, Sebastian Rudy and Yıldıray Baştürk.

1899 drops out of top spot with loss to Leverkusen

The start of the Rückrunde has been far from convincing for 1899 and following a complete breakdown, losing 4-1 to Bayer Leverkusen they club is no longer in first place. After last weeks fortunate draw to Gladbach and this beating, it is should be obvious Sport Director Jan Schindelmeiser and Coach Ralf Rangnick did not been deal with sufficiently the loss of Vedad Ibišević. With four goals in the three matches since the re-start, productivity as dropped in half and the rest of the table will not wait while this is solved.

It did not take long for the capacity crowd of Rhein-Neckar Arena to be hushed as
Renato Augusto dissected the defenders and provided Patrick Helmes to finish past Timo Hildebrand. Leverkusen doubled their lead at the twelfth minute with Tranquillo Barnetta’s free-kick and it seemed like the nightmare was just starting. 1899 received a lifeline on the half hour when Demba Ba was hauled down in the area and a penalty given. Sejad Salihović cut the margin in half but that was as close as it got as Patrick Helmes stuck a free-kick in before the break. At the restart Leverkusen ended any hope of getting back into the match as Gonzalo Castro headed in Tranquillo Barnetta’s corner two minutes into the match.

Ralf Rangnick tried to make some tactical changes but there was no breaking through and the match couldn't have ended faster. With a tough run of VfB, BVB and Werder in the next three matches, 1899 is going to need one of the strikers step up to the challenge fast.