Things are not very festive in Sinsheim three and a half weeks before Christmas as Hoffenheim are 16th on the table in a relegation spot with 8 defeats and 32 goals conceded in 14 matches...
Things are not very festive in Sinsheim three and a half weeks before Christmas as Hoffenheim are 16th on the table in a relegation spot with 8 defeats and 32 goals conceded in 14 matches...
Things are not very festive in Sinsheim three and a half weeks before Christmas as Hoffenheim are 16th on the table in a relegation spot with 8 defeats and 32 goals conceded in 14 matches. Head coach Markus Babbel is hanging onto his job despite the poor showings - also because club boss Dieter Hopp is currently on holiday in Florida and manager Andreas Müller is trying to keep things calm. But things are anything but calm. Now Werder Bremen come to town and there is one player predominantly drawing attention even though he will not even play.

Top players, high expectations, big disappointments
The lists of stars who came into Hoffenheim at the beginning of the season is long. Matthieu Delpierre (Stuttgart), Eren Derdiyok (Leverkusen), Tim Wiese (Bremen), Patrick Ochs, Chris (both Wolfsburg) and Takashi Usami (Bayern) were supposed to help Hoffenheim clinch a Europa League berth. But the team and former Werder keeper Wiese are dealing with a relegation fight and were also bounced from the German DFB Cup in the first round by amateur club Berlin AK 4-0.
Schaaf: "Hoffenheim players have quality"
Werder head coach Thomas Schaaf still said his team must watch out for Hoffenheim. "They are a team that can play much better football than their standing indicates. We cannot let ourselves be blinded by that. The players who play there have quality," said Schaaf. Wiese is especially disturbed about the situation. "We can achieve something big here," said Wiese in late July, even mentioning the words Champions League. Reality has looked quite differently. Hoffenheim has been the place for shooting practice during games, especially since Wiese has failed to convince in a Hoffenheim shirt. And now the former Bremen star will be out until the winter break with a knee ligament injury, meaning he will miss the match against his former team. Still, Werder can expect a difficult match on the 15th game day.
