What Sebastian Hoeneß has done at VfB Stuttgart since the beginning of April 2023 exceeds everything that even the boldest optimists would have expected from the 41-year-old.
When Sebastian Hoeneß was still coaching TSG Hoffenheim, the talented young coach suffered from an unprecedented series of illnesses and injuries. On the one hand. On the other hand, he also suffered from his rather reserved nature – in contrast to his father Dieter and Uncle Uli. Even digitally, the media increasingly rarely went to the matchday press conferences because they were so boring. But those responsible for sports around Alex Rosen always knew that this Hoeneß junior could do something. So they stuck with Hoeneß, even though the results were no longer correct, and only parted ways amicably in the summer of 2022 after the end of the season.
What Hoeneß has done at VfB Stuttgart since the beginning of April 2023 after almost a year of regenerative break exceeds everything that even the boldest optimists would have expected from the 41-year-old. When he succeeded Bruno Labbadia, who had previously been unsuccessfully hired as a classic savior, the Swabians were considered to be as good as relegated. The idea after Labbadia was: Hoeneß should build something in the long term; relegation was already priced in, so to speak.
But then VfB dismantled Hamburger SV in the relegation with two thrilling performances and managed to preserve the energy from these games into the new season. And of course the return of the notorious goalscorer Serhou Guirassy also played into coach Hoeneß’s hands. The French center forward was absent from Labbadia for practically his entire short term due to injury.
Opposing coaches praise Stuttgart’s stable possession game as well as their attack-like counterattacks, as well as their now stable defense. It is remarkable how easily VfB compensated for the departures of Konstantinos Mavropanos, Wataru Endo and Borna Sosa, all sales that brought the Swabians, who are urgently in need of fresh capital, a transfer surplus of almost 28 million euros.
It will soon become clear how stable the structure actually is under the leadership of Alex Wehrle. In any case, it would be better not to put an external sports director in front of the sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth, as that could lead to unnecessary unrest instead of added value. Wohlgemuth, who is also known as an expert when it comes to young talent, can justifiably say in all modesty: “I think we have managed the balancing act well between our economic requirements and our sporting ambitions.”
The post first appeared on www.fr.de
