Football Season Guide

SV Darmstadt 98

In


Emir Karic (def) SCR Altach; Morten Behrens (gk) FC Magdeburg; Jannik Muller (def) Dunajska Streda; Phillip Tietz (att) Wehen Wiesbaden; Frank Ronstadt (def) Würzburger Kickers; Steve Kroll (gk) Unterhaching; Lasse Sobiech (def) FC Koln; Benjamin Goller (mid) Werder Bremen - on loan; Luca Pfeiffer (att) FC Midtjylland - on loan; Leon Muller (mid) RW Koblenz - end of loan; Braydon Manu (mid) Hallescher FC - end of loan;

Out


Victor Palsson (r) (mid) Schalke; Silas Zehnder (sp) (def) Asschaffenburg; Immanuel Hohn (r) (def) Sandhausen; Felix Platte (r) (att) SC Paderborn; Carl Klaus (sp) (gk) FC Nurnberg; Alexander Vogler (sp) (mid) SV Lippstadt 08; Serdar Dursun (r) (att) Fenerbahce; Florian Stritzel (sp) (gk) Wehen Wiesbaden; Henry Jon Crosthwaite (sp) (mid) RW Koblenz - on loan; Patrick Herrmann (r) (def) released; Christian Clemens (sp) (mid) released; Mathias Wittek (sp) (def) released; Samuele Campo (sp) (mid) FC Basel - end of loan; Lars Lukas Mai (r) (def) Bayern Munich - end of loan; Nicolai Rapp (r) (mid) Union Berlin - end of loan;

Darmstadt surprised many yet again with an impressive seventh place finish last season. There was talk of a fight for relegation at the turn of the year but 8 wins from their final 11 games saw them surge up the table. Darmstadt will again have to start the campaign with a new manager after Markus Anfang departed to join Werder Bremen. New chief Torsten Lieberknecht has big shoes to fill from the previous two coaches but does have some decent experience under his belt. One thing is for sure for the coming season, is that the team will have a very new look to it, this is due to numerous comings and goings over the summer. The club have had to deal with the departure of many first-teamers, including Platte, Hohn and Palsson, not to mention top goalscorer, Dursun, leaving on a free transfer to Fenerbahce. Mai and Rapp have also returned to their parent-clubs. It is difficult to see how Darmstadt will cope without those experienced players but Pfeiffer and Goller are exciting attacking prospects brought in on loan and could spring a surprise or two. Darmstadt have also looked to tighten their defence with Karic, Muller, Ronstadt and Sobiech all healthy additions to the backline.

Target


Survival. Although the previous two seasons ended well for Darmstadt you get the feeling things could be different this time round, you would expect to still see plenty of fight from the side but the loss of many of their better players, leaves them looking vulnerable for the campaign ahead.