Football Season Guide

Bochum finished their campaign strongly last season after struggling for long spells. It took coach Thomas Reis time to implement his changes but they improved dramatically and eventually finished 8th. Bochum will look to continue where they left off last season but have had their squad broken up slightly due to contracts coming to an end. Jordi Osei-Tutu and Manuel Wintzheimer have returned to their parent clubs after impressing on loan but they have secured the permanent signing of Vasilios Lampropolous, who proved to be a revelation in central defence since coming in on loan back in January. The other incomings for Bochum include right-winger Tarsis Bonga, who they hope will have a similar influence to Osei-Tutu with his pace on the flanks. Gerrit Holtmann is another good addition on the left-side and will also provide plenty of speed. Bochum’s main strengths lie in attack, they scored an impressive 53 goals last season and will be hoping for more of the same. Sylvere Ganvoula and Danny Blum will look to spearhead the attack, while new boy Soma Novothny can also add firepower. An area of concern could be defensively but, if centre-back pairing Lampropoulos and Leitsch continue their good form from the end of the last campaign, then they should be ok.