You know each other, you respect each other, you compete against each other. In the cup semi-final, Stuttgart’s head coach Sebastian Hoeneß faces his former teammate Zsolt Löw on the side of RB Leipzig.
Changing coaches is always a challenge for the opposing team and their coaching staff. After all, there are many unknowns in terms of tactics and playing style to adjust to. This time, questions remain for Hoeneß and Co. as well. However, not quite as many as usual. Stuttgart’s head coach and his Leipzig colleague know and respect each other. “I know Zsolt very well,” says the 42-year-old. “We played together at Hoffenheim.” In the 2006/07 season. “Since then, we’ve had a connection. Sometimes more, sometimes less. He’s a very fine person, a very nice guy who understands a lot about soccer.”
Which has even earned the Hungarian the nickname “Jogi”, in reference to world champion coach Jogi Löw. “I never called him that,” says Hoeneß, whose path crossed with the 45-year-old’s later on. The VfB coach trained in the youth sector of the Saxons from 2014 to 2017, while Löw was an assistant coach with the professional team.
Hoeneß is preparing for more “RB DNA”
RB is, albeit on an interim basis, his first head coaching position. Which makes it a bit more demanding for the Stuttgart team. Hoeneß is “pretty sure that he will try to get some of the RB DNA back.” He will have the team defend high up the pitch and will try to create a high-intensity transition game. He may also use a back four. These are things he can and will try in the short time available.” The 42-year-old, who first and foremost describes Leipzig as “a strong team”, believes that “there is a lot, a great deal of quality in it, which Zsolt will try to tease out.” Which basically does not worry him. “As always, it’s also important that we look after ourselves, that we try to bring our ideas onto the pitch.”
Demirovic and Chabot against former club
Probably with Ermedin Demirovic and Jeff Chabot, who are also celebrating a reunion with RB. Hoeneß, the striker and the defender were all under contract with Leipzig between 2014 and 2017. The Bosnian international scored 26 goals in 54 appearances for RB in the A-Junior Bundesliga North/North-East, while his teammate scored five goals in 36 appearances. Both will be in demand again this time, just in the VfB jersey. If successful, the game could give the relegated runners-up a boost.
When Hoeneß took up his post in Stuttgart on April 3, 2023, the team played 1. FC Nürnberg in the cup quarter-finals two days later. This was followed by the away game in Bochum in the league. Stuttgart followed up their 1-0 win in Franconia with a 3-2 win in the Ruhr region. After Leipzig, they now face VfL again.
“We are hot and hungry for Berlin”
Back then, it was the starting signal for avoiding relegation. This time, will it be the starting signal for a race to catch up with the European places? “For me, the two situations are not comparable. There are far too many things that are different,” explains Hoeneß. ‘But of course the game itself is extremely important because we have the chance to reach the final. We are fired up and hungry for Berlin.’ That alone is particularly appealing. In addition, there is ‘of course the hope of getting momentum for the next Bundesliga games.’
