Philipp Hofmann: Record – and new competition at VfL Bochum

Surrounded by happy fans after relegation: Bochum striker Philipp Hofmann (centre).

IMAGO/Nordphoto

At the tender age of 29, Philipp Hofmann made his debut in the Bundesliga, having previously demonstrated his marksmanship at Karlsruher SC. In the 2nd league mind you. There he scored in double digits, he had probably secretly hoped for a rate of ten and more for the Bundesliga.

At least that’s how he put it in a conversation with kicker on the home stretch of the season. Hofmann had scored eight goals by then, he wanted to create at least two more before the end of the season and bag the VfL whereabouts without relegation.

That succeeded with staying up, with a double-digit quota it was nothing, because Hofmann only scored two goals in the second half of the season. Not only once did he miss top chances, but he still remained a very important factor in Bochum’s game.

Hofmann: The king of the skies

With his presence in the middle of the attack, the 1.95 meter long, strong striker is important in VfL attacks, because he often extends wide balls with his head. In addition, of course, he is also a factor in defensive set pieces; it’s impressive how many high balls he clears in his own penalty area.

Hofmann is the king of the skies in the Bundesliga. He has fought 384 duels in the air, significantly more than number two in the league, Union Berlin’s Kevin Behrens (325). He won a whopping 211 of them, with Behrens it was 177, with all the others fewer.

That is an impressive balance sheet for the brain worker, but he has to adapt to new competition for the 2023/24 season. It is true that Silvere Ganvoula, who was similar in size to Hofmann, left VfL; however, he had already played no role in the past season.

New competition in the Bochum storm

Moritz Broschinski, on the other hand, made a good first impression, and he really came up trumps with his joker bets. The striker, who came from Borussia Dortmund II after the winter break, has “developed well”, praises coach Thomas Letsch. Broschinski is a fast striker with a move towards goal who is hoping for more play in the new season.

A completely different type of player is newcomer Lukas Daschner, who was last used at FC St. Pauli mainly in the middle of the attack. Born in Duisburg, he is technically strong, played on the ten at MSV and was the top scorer at St. Pauli with nine goals and seven assists.

“Lukas is a highly gifted attacking player who has continued to develop over the past few years and impressively demonstrated his qualities last season,” said Marc Lettau, Technical Director of VfL Bochum. However, the battle for attacking positions will be much more intense than last season.

On July 5th, VfL Bochum will start training again, and from July 23rd to 30th the team will move into their training camp in the holiday region of Bruneck in South Tyrol.