“End the season professionally”

Of course we are all very disappointed about the relegation. But we have the expectation, and every single player must also have the expectation, of finishing the season professionally – starting with the game in Wolfsburg. The eyes are primarily on the players and how they will play in the upcoming games. We started training again yesterday. The boys have a good tension and are ready to make a good impression. After all, you have the privilege of playing in the first division. Therefore, they should play the games professionally. For this we need a certain pressure and a certain tension, but also a certain amount of looseness. Ultimately, VfL Wolfsburg still needs the last points to be completely safe in this tight relegation battle. After that, it’s all about international business for Hoffenheim. And then we have a big highlight with Borussia Dortmund that every player can apply for in a training week and in the games beforehand.

VfL Wolfsburg has undergone a coaching change to counteract relegation concerns. If you know what is being invested at VfL and what quality there is, it is surprising in which regions Wolfsburg are this season. VfL has a team with outstanding individual players. There was a red card for Wolfsburg in the first leg, but we couldn’t take advantage of it. We don’t like losing to a team twice in a season. That’s why we want to win the second leg against VfL Wolfsburg – that’s how we go to Wolfsburg.

Regardless of whether a player’s contract is expiring or the boys are here beyond the summer: I look at the training performance and the respective tension of the players within a training week. The performance in the last game is also taken into account. I’ve always had this principle. I will stick to that too.

We are checking and considering. Paul also makes his own impressions during training sessions and games. But no final decisions have been made yet. However, with players like Julian Justvan and Tim Skarke, we know that it will be very difficult to keep them. Tim, for example, scored eight goals for the bottom team. With Julian we also saw that the loan was fruitful. Overall, all of the loan players contributed so much that they wanted to get the most out of it. That’s why the clubs also see that they have a benefit when they give players to us on loan.

Definitely yes. I stay here. And very much so.