Season Review 1: A season with highs and lows

Part 1

1899 Hoffenheim in August 2009- a heavy pre-season programme preceded the cup game against Oberneuland for Ralf Rangnick's side. Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke 04 were the first three opponents of the season.
In the first game against Bayern, 1899's Josip Simunic had a goal ruled out incorrectly, before Ivica Olic put Bayern ahead. Thomas Obasi grabbed a late equaliser which gave Hoffenheim a deserved point. The loss at the BayArena against Bayer Leverkusen marked the start of an impressive runof four wins and a draw. The 5-1 win against Hertha BSC Berlin on September 27th was the turning point of the season however, and afterwards 1899 could not find any consistency. A win on October 24th against 1. FC Nürnberg was the only home win in this period. The calendar year ended for Hoffenheim with a disappointing 3-1 defeat against VfB Stuttgart; 1899 went into the winter break in seventh position but still with an eye on the European spots.

Just like the season before though, 1899 failed to find any real consistency. The fans at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena had to wait a long time for a home victory, as 1899 embarked on a run of defeats. Frustration was rife amongst the team and fans. What had begun as a promising season was suddenly turning into a relegation battle. After the 1-1 draw with Freiburg, and weak results against Mainz and Bremen, Andreas Beck warned that 'we need to watch out where we are in the table at the moment.' And he was right. Defeats to Wolfsburg and Köln brought Hoffenheim ever closer to the bottom three. But the side reacted with a draw in Dortmund followed by wins against Hamburg and Frankfurt- a decent end to a rollercoaster season.

 

Part 1: Season Review 1: A season with highs and lows

Part 2: Season Review 2: A captain with a twist

Part 3: Season Review 3: The striker returns

Part 4: Season Review 4: between the starting eleven and the bench