2024-04-08 13:36:56
The successes of a specialist with a modest team attracted attention from German and European top clubs
İdman.biz presents an article with a link to livesport.ru.
His name is, of course, familiar to everyone, but as a coach, Sebastian Hoeness remains a relatively new figure among the top coaches of German clubs, writes ESPN author Konstantin Ekner.
Stuttgart are third in the Bundesliga and Hoeness’ efforts with a modest team have attracted attention in German and European football circles.
So much so that until last month, when he extended his contract, Hoeness was even linked with rumors of the Bayern Munich manager’s job, which was soon to become vacant. It seems inevitable that he will one day return to his hometown and the club where his uncle Uli Hoeness reigned as general manager for three decades and still retains influence.
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Sebastian, 41, has not had as successful a playing career as Uli or his father Dieter, who also played for Bayern and had a long career as sporting director at Hertha Berlin and also had a spell at Wolfsburg. Having failed to achieve success on the pitch, Sebastian Hoeness retired from his playing career at the age of 27 and concentrated his efforts on coaching, starting with local Berlin club Hertha Zehlendorf and RB Leipzig’s youth academy before joining Bayern Munich.
Etched in the mind of this writer is Hoeness’s time in charge of Bayern’s reserve team, during which he achieved victory in the German third division – a feat unmatched by any other reserve team to date. However, according to the rules, reserve teams are not allowed to be relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga.
During his tenure, Hoeness primarily focused on preparing young talent for a potential call-up to Bayern’s Bundesliga first team. However, he managed to create a competitive team that more than successfully held its own against more experienced opponents. Throughout the 2019/20 season, the relatively inexperienced manager often directed his players from the touchline, giving instructions and encouragement.
Fast forward four years and Hoeness has become a much calmer presence on the touchline, despite now being in front of much larger crowds.
“Balance is important. We’re talking about football. Emotions are part of him,” he once said. “But what is also part of the process is being analytical at the right time, being dispassionate and finding the right combination.”
Hoeness is not as outspoken as his famous uncle, who never shied away from a war of words during his time as a powerful figure at Bayern. Sebastian exudes a calmer confidence in his work and the abilities of his players, although there is always a fire underneath his even-keeled demeanor.
“Everyone experiences their emotions differently,” said Lothar Matthäus, who played for Bayern under Uli. “I think Sebastian can get very emotional if he doesn’t like something.”
However, German media portrayed Sebastian as “a slightly different Hoeness”, as Sky Germany once said.
De Zerbi’s admiration
All members of the Hoeness family share a passion for greatness. They don’t just want to be part of the Bundesliga, they want to run it. Sebastian made his debut in the German top flight thanks to Hoffenheim, who gave the promising coach a chance after his triumph in the third division. It was quite a risky move, and Hoeness is still grateful to this day for the chance to manage an ambitious team from the Kraichgau region.
After leaving Hoffenheim in 2022, he began a new chapter at Stuttgart after a 10-month break. Upon his arrival, he faced serious problems: the club was hanging at the bottom of the Bundesliga standings, but Hoeness somehow managed to turn the situation around.
As goalkeeper Fabian Bradlow once put it, referring to the Asterix comics: “[Хёнесс] “Getafix, and he has a magic potion.” Bradlow added in a more serious tone: “I feel like everyone is behind him. Even those few who hid their heads in the sand because they thought they wouldn’t play anyway are back in action.”
Stuttgart climbed out of the relegation zone and eventually escaped by beating Hamburg in the Bundesliga play-offs, but few expected it to be such a rise that they would be fighting for Champions League places.
They may be three-time Bundesliga champions, but after years of mismanagement, Stuttgart don’t have much of a budget. In a sense, they have become the Brighton of the Bundesliga, and this comparison is not chosen by chance. Hoeness draws inspiration from the footballing philosophy and tactical approach of Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi, whom Hoeness visited after his time at Hoffenheim ended.
“Roberto De Zerbi is one of those coaches whose games I follow closely and who inspire me,” Hoeness said last year. His admiration seems to go so far that one can find many similarities in the way Stuttgart play defensively and try to set traps for their opponents. They often draw the defending team towards their own penalty area and then counter the high pressing with quick passes involving the centre-backs and midfielders before sending the ball forward to the attackers.
Stuttgart, like many other Bundesliga teams, could focus on defending in a compact structure and trying to organize counter-attacks, relying on reacting rather than proactively. Their defensive vulnerabilities were exposed against Heidenheim when the opposition staged a remarkable comeback, turning a 0-2 deficit into a 3-2 lead with two quick counter-attacks, both ruthlessly finished by Tim Kleindienst. However, under Hoeness, Stuttgart consistently produced attacking football that was both convincing and effective, as evidenced by the final score of the day, 3-3.
“Stuttgart has a coach in Sebastian Hoeneß whose personality suits the team perfectly,” said Thomas Hitzlsperger, a former Stuttgart player and the club’s CEO. “People are delighted with the way he allows his team to play football, especially since many years have passed during which there was nothing much to celebrate. It’s fun to be a Stuttgart fan again.”
Hitzlsperger even compared current Stuttgart to the 2007 team when he, Sami Khedira, Mario Gomez and others led them to their last Bundesliga title. “The processes (on the field) were worked out automatically, and we played with pleasure,” he said. “Now Stuttgart is again in a similar phase.”
Overcoming Stuttgart’s financial limitations
Hoeness took over the club almost a year ago and his tenure has been a success story, especially given the financial constraints that Stuttgart have as a club. They were forced to let Konstantinos Mavropanos and Wataru Endo go during the summer transfer window, with the latter joining Liverpool just two weeks before it ended.
On the other hand, Hoeness, together with the widely respected sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth and chairman Alexander Werle, managed to attract new talent, most notably striker Denis Undave, as well as left-back Maximilian Mittelstadt and midfielder Angelo Stiller.
Interestingly, Mittelstadt, like Stuttgart striker Serou Guirassi, was considered a failure at certain points in his career. Berlin-born Mittelstedt never realized his true potential in nine seasons with his hometown club Hertha. Just nine months after moving to Stuttgart, he was called up by Julian Nagelsmann to the Germany national team and has a real chance of starting at Euro 2024. Twenty-eight-year-old Guirassi has now scored 24 goals in 22 league games and has attracted plenty of attention from Premier League clubs.
The Guinea international is likely to leave Stuttgart this summer while the future of Undave, who has also just made his Germany debut, remains uncertain on loan from Brighton. If Stuttgart qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2010, the buyout amount to make Undave’s loan a permanent transfer will increase to €20 million. Stuttgart have already made one move in the transfer market for next season, signing Nick Woltemade – another somewhat underrated striker who, at 22, is looking for his big break in the Bundesliga – from Werder Bremen.
When Hoeness extended his contract with Stuttgart until 2027, he must have known that next season could prove much more difficult as expectations had increased and his players were in such high demand in the transfer market. In some ways, he and Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso are in the same boat, as the pair have resisted potential offers from bigger clubs. Instead, they both stay put, knowing things could go downhill next season.
It is unclear whether Hoeness and his team will be affected by such high expectations. Known for his unwavering determination, he can simply continue to carry out his duties and insist on the club’s management providing him and Wohlgemuth with the financial support needed to remain competitive beyond the 2023/24 season.
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