How Pellegrino Matarazzo turned things around at Hoffenheim

On Wednesday, Gegenpressing caught up with Hoffenheim defender Ozan Kabak to chat about the relegation battle, Pellegrino Matarazzo's impact at the club and the defender's future.

There would have been a good chance that Ozan Kabak would be on the move again next summer. The 23-year-old Turkish defender joined Hoffenheim for €7 million from Schalke last year and then found himself in the middle of a relegation battle. But over the last five matchdays, things have looked up for Kabak and Hoffenheim under American head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo. 

Kabak was full of praise for the 45-year-old head coach when he spoke to Gegenpressing as part of an international roundtable organized by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) on Wednesday. “Rino is a very good coach with a typical German mentality,” Kabak said. “He plays Gegenpressing, always, at a very high intensity, and when you lose the ball, he makes us play direct pressing, he makes us work hard and always has good ideas.” 

Indeed, it has been a remarkable transformation at 1899 Hoffenheim, with Matarazzo turning around an impossible situation after taking over on February 8. In the last five matchdays, Hoffenheim have won three games and taken a point off record champions Bayern Munich. Those results have been enough to carry Hoffenheim from the bottom of the table up to 14th place. 

Although they are not out of the woods yet—the recent 3-1 defeat to Köln highlights that things can also quickly go the other way—there is a sense of optimism at Hoffenheim and that the club will stay in the league. That hope is a fantastic achievement by Hoffenheim’s head coach Matarazzo, especially as die Kreichgauer lost the first five games under the 45-year-old American.