Sure: nothing has been won yet. But the first Bochum game under the newly installed hopeful Dieter Hecking, who was directly decorated with the youth word of the year, immediately generated self-confidence.
Celebrations in the final phase: Dieter Hecking scored straight away with his new club Bochum.
IMAGO/DeFodi
After a team’s worst Bundesliga start ever (one point, 9:29 goals), the table picture doesn’t look much better even after the 1-1 draw against champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
With two points now on the credit side, VfL Bochum’s gap to safety is an impressive six points – coupled with the burden of still being without a single win.
And yet cheers broke out at 5:18 p.m. when Joker Koji Miyoshi scored the deserved 1-1 in the 89th minute. And celebrations at 5:20 p.m. when the VAR did not disallow the goal after an offside check. And big cheers at 5:24 p.m. when referee Robert Hartmann blew the final whistle.
A Bochum unit
Because under Dieter Hecking, the VfL team, which had a three-man chain in a 3-3-1-2 system, presented itself as a unit, especially compared to the disastrous 2:7 in Frankfurt a week ago. As an unpleasant host for fine footballers like Florian Wirtz, who, apart from his magic pass before the 1-0, had achieved little. And as a team that, after a good defensive performance and some good attempts in attack, including a lack of ideas in the final third, believed right up until the end that they had a chance to get the equalizer they deserved.
Hecking? “You just believe everything”
Winger Gerrit Holtmann didn’t beat around the bush after winning the point in front of a loud home crowd. It was clear to him that Hecking was the key to this success. Based on the youth word of the year 2024 – aura – the attacker said: “He is an outstanding coach with charisma and aura who gives us something. You simply believe everything he says. He gave us security.”
“And you realized that we could get them today,” Holtmann continued. “This is the right way.” In keeping with this, the fans on Castroper Straße sang: “VfL is back!”
Hecking himself, who had seen a lot of compactness and quick switching from his protégés after winning the ball as well as an increasingly intense final phase, was meanwhile modest – and was proud of his protégés. His comments after the 1-1 draw against champions Leverkusen, after his first Bundesliga game in five and a half years (Gladbach at the time): “I would have been happy with the team that day even if we had lost 1-0. They have an excellent team It wasn’t a given. It’s never easy when you start working with a new coach who wants to bring in new things.”
And further: “This could be a turning point in this season. But we need 24 times today.”
Senegal
