Football Season Guide

Karlsruher achieved its target of stabilising in the second division but fell considerably from its sixth-place finish the previous season. Things were looking up after a decent first half of the campaign but, despite a run to the quarter-finals of the cup, they were largely disappointing in the second. Coach Christian Eichner remains in charge for what will be his third season at the club, he has done an excellent job to make Karlsruher competitive at this level again, but where he can take them from here is hard to know. Firstly Eichner and his side will have to cope with the loss of key striker Philipp Hofmann, who finally got his move to the Bundesliga with Bochum. The frontman scored 52 goals in 104 games for the club and will be hard to replace. Simone Rapp and Mikkel Kaufmann are good additions and should help to fill the void. Karlsruher has so far managed to keep hold of their midfield contingent which is a definite plus point, Wanitzek, Gondorf, and Breithaupt are the heartbeat of the side and should again be a force. New wingers Kelvin Arase and Paul Nebel will also add pace to the flanks. One area that needs to improve is in defence, Bormuth has moved on, while Gordon isn’t getting any younger at 37. Experienced central defenders Marcel Franke and Florian Ballas have both been brought in and a fit-again Sebastian Jung should make them stronger.