Football Season Guide

Heidenheim dramatically missed out on first ever promotion to the top flight at the end of last season when unfortunate own goal decided their 2-leg play-off vs. Werder Bremen. Still this was campaign to remember for the unique team that continues to have at the helm the longest-serving manager in German football and also as captain the longest-serving player. Coach Schmidt will be starting his 14th year in charge, while captain Schnatterer will be in his 12th season! The successes of last season saw 3 important players leaving this summer, the main duo in the heart of the midfield Dorsch-Griesbeck and the team’s top scorer Tim Kleindienst moved on. Burnic and Geipl were signed to become the new backbone of the midfield, while up front fit-again Thomalla will be competing with 4 other strikers for minutes. Frank Schmidt trusts traditions and his favourite formation remains 4-4-2, although he’s perfectly capable of mixing things. Especially in the early months of the campaign he might be willing to experiment more with the shape and the personnel. Heidenheim’s great team-spirit and their ability to hurt teams in transition when stealing balls high up the pitch remain amongst their main strengths. There will definitely be some worries as to if the new main pair of inner midfielders will settle quickly. Also despite having 5 centre forwards it is yet to be seen if between them they will be able to fill the void left by the departure of Tim Kleindienst (scored 16 goals last season).