Christian Ilzer on rebuilding Hoffenheim, his coaching journey, Oliver Baumann's FIFA World Cup 2026 prospects and more
Christian Ilzer has taken Hoffenheim from the fringes of the relegation zone towards the end of 2024/25 to top-six contention in his first full campaign in charge.
With Hoffenheim in fifth place, only outside the UEFA Champions League qualification places on goal difference ahead of the Matchday 14 meeting with promoted Hamburg, the Bundesliga spoke to the Austrian tactician about his first 13 months as head coach...
Christian, going back to when you started here with a thrilling 4-3 win over RB Leipzig, after which it took a while to find your feet. And now this season it looks to us on the outside that a lot has changed and the team suddenly looks to have found itself. What’s your perception from the inside of how things have developed?
Christian Ilzer: "Obviously somewhat differently. You used the word ‘suddenly’ – ‘suddenly things are going differently’. We can leave out ‘suddenly’. It’s obviously down to how we started. When you join a new team that’s on a bad run, then your job as coach, I call it ‘creative disruption’. If you want new trees, you need to remove the old ones. It sounds hard and was hard, but it got things moving. But it was also necessary to get things moving, but it meant it was about getting through that first phase, which has now become the foundation of our current success. The fact we’re now doing better is down to what we did in that first phase where there was no real visual success.
Watch: Ilzer's Hoffenheim overcame top-four contenders Leipzig once more in November 2025
"Every top athlete knows at the start you need to give up something and change something. And then you slowly lay the groundwork for eventually reaping the rewards. We’re now on a path where we’ve gained good knowledge from the experience of that first phase, taken good steps, and have now found and put together a team that works well together, stands together, has created good energy in both aspects of the game – work with the ball and work against the ball – but also has a good sense of togetherness. We’re now in a phase where we’re slowly achieving visible success."
What was it then that you had to disrupt?
Ilzer: "It was about giving the team a different sort of identity. That obviously happens outside your comfort zone. You face resistance there as well. You have to precisely determine where your leadership stands so you can lead the team to a point of success in that phase. You can obviously choose a gentler approach, but if you’re just painting over things slightly, not much will change in the end.
"We knew from the start that we had clear perceptions of where we want to go in the future. That’s why we needed to give the team a fundamentally new identity. It’s a long process and we’re still going through that process, but it’s not just my work. It’s done with [sporting director] Andi Schicker, the coaching staff but also the players, who’ve gone along with it. It was hugely important that we’ve taken a big step forward in terms of our performances."
You came here with a clear idea and were also signed based on a clear idea, somewhat based on the football that Hoffenheim first played at the start in the Bundesliga under Ralf Rangnick – now seen as Red Bull football. Have you had to change that a bit from a team that previously looked to have possession?
Ilzer: "It’s not so much about being a possession-oriented team or Red Bull football. I’ve never worked for a Red Bull team, so I’m not weighed down by that. We just have a clear idea of how we think you can do well in football. We decided at the start we just wanted to speed up phases of the game. Whenever we have the ball, we want to speed things up. When we don’t have the ball, it’s not that we want to slow things down but quickly put the opponent in possession under pressure so we can quickly win the ball back. And when we have the ball, we want to get at the opposition goal as quickly as possible, although sometimes you need to take detours to ensure you have structure and control.
"We have clear perceptions of what we want to do in these various phases of the game, plus the types of players and characters are the right fit for that. But at the end of the day it’s about scoring as many goals as possible, and on the other hand making things as difficult as possible for opponents to score goals or get shots away. You need a team that loves to defend just as much as you need a team with great creativity that can find a way through an opponent that defends well."
You’ve helped Hoffenheim progress in terms of their play at a time when there’s been unrest within the club. How have you managed to get the team to focus?
Ilzer: "We in the inner circle have always been very clear on what our job is and what our mission is. We’ve agreed on clear things and very much focused on that job during this time, because that’s our job and we want to show that as best we can on the pitch. I think the team has done that in impressive fashion. Obviously we’re aware of unrest in and around the club, but our mission and common goals have been so big that we couldn’t lose sight of them."
What ideas and missions do you still have with this Hoffenheim team?
Ilzer: "When you talk about missions, you can’t be limited by what’s just in your own head. I always try to pass that on to my players. Your vision can’t be big enough, but you need to have a clear plan of action for it. You need to be active, otherwise you remain just a dreamer and it won’t come to pass. And in terms of a concrete path, we just want to take steps in our development, want to keep progressing.
"A main part of my job for me is to help develop my players as much as possible and form them into a successful team. That’s my main job, and Andi Schicker creates perfect conditions for that. And alongside my coaching staff, we try to implement that every day. But we also need to say that the success of the past means starting over again every time, because you don’t win anything from the success of the past. They’re steps in our development, which is how we as a team want to keep moving forward and developing. And there will always be spells where things are more difficult in terms of results, where results are tougher to get, but there will also be spells where good results are easier to achieve. But when we as a team have the interest and great hunger and passion to work and progress further, we’ll be able to achieve the best possible success in terms of the table."
What’s your approach to communication and how you talk with your players?
Ilzer: "It’s very much adapted to the current situation. I try to take the role of an observer, see how the team ticks, what they need or individual players need. As a coach, you have a broad range of ways of communicating. It doesn’t just have to be giving a speech. There are many different ways you can have an effect. You also need to be aware that you always have an effect, even if you say nothing. Just standing nearby, you have an effect on the team. You try to impact certain things with that effect, ideally try to inspire things.
"If you manage to inspire the team and for them to carry a big vision within them, then you don’t need to permanently motivate them, when the team can motivate and inspire themselves from within. It’s always my goal to create a dynamic within the team that the team can lead and regulate itself from within. You then need to recognise when you maybe need to be more present, take a step back to give the team the space they need to develop."
To what extent can you have a personal relationship with the players?
Ilzer: "The position of a head coach means there’s a certain distance. We also set up the coaching team in a way that everyone understands their role with the players. There are coaching colleagues in my backroom staff who are very close to the team, who take on certain roles. For me, it’s not about being above them but taking up a position that gives the players the feeling that there’s someone there with clear lines but is still a person who you can come to with anything, whether it’s of a private or sporting nature. I want to give the players that feeling. You can then discuss all manner of things. But still, it’s important to remember that you as a head coach need to make some very difficult decisions and need to be clear, which means there’s that natural distance between you."
You started out coaching in the lower leagues. How difficult or defining was all that in your journey to get here?
Ilzer: "There’s definitely something to the story. But you can say when you have a big vision, great passion and persistence in your everyday work on your ability but also lacking aspects that you maybe hadn’t mastered to reach the top level… If you keep at that, then anything’s possible. The chances of me sitting here in charge of a Bundesliga club… When you see where I was 20 years ago, coaching in the lowest level in Austria. I didn’t miss a single step, doing everything from youth to national teams. The chances of me reaching this level were probably below one percent.
"But the key thing for me isn’t where I am now. The fulfilling thing for me is developing as a person, that you’ve discovered your calling in your heart, because that allows me to go about my work with great energy every day. And then also seeing you can now overcome things that were maybe much more difficult 15 years ago. That’s a part that fills me with pride. I’m sort of in the middle now and believe there’s still a lot of room for personal development. That’s the appeal for me. Whether times are tougher or better, the appeal is always to continue to develop as a coach. You gain personal gratification when you realise you’ve taken another step forward."
What was it like starting out as a coach? A world away from the Bundesliga and Hoffenheim?
Ilzer: "How did I start out? After my dream of playing professionally was ended and then a new orientation, doing a technical course that’s a long way from football. I did a course for electricians and worked in that field for a year or two. I then changed again and started to study sports science, but with the clear vision… My parents weren’t too pleased that their oldest son had a steady job, but then decided to stop working there and wanted to study something in sports. The question was what I was going to even do with that. You never played professionally, so what do you want to do with that?
"When I started the course, it was clear to me that I wanted to be a part of top-level sport, wanted to achieve a world-class level, but the initial vision was as a fitness coach. Things then slowly took their course, with personal study to develop further in terms of knowledge of the theory, but in parallel gaining experience at the various levels. There are many levels in youth football. It’s different in Germany, but in Austria it goes from U10 level through the youth national teams and youth performance centres and to the senior national team and adult football.
"I worked from the lowest amateur leagues up to the Austrian Bundesliga, gained a lot of experience. And whether it was amateur or professional football, you were always working with people who had their goals or visions, so it was about leading and encouraging people, bringing them together. It was the same as a team at all levels. I’ve gained a lot of experience at various levels in my personal development as a coach."
Coming to the present, what do you make of Fisnik Asllani’s development?
Ilzer: "He’s one of our up-and-coming young players. We clearly said with this group of players born in 2000 or later, we want to expand that group substantially to increase that dynamic within the team, adding in hungry players. But we also have players here who are part of the club’s history, who bring great experience. We’ve also got a big group of players who are part of the future. Putting those players together is important. You need that experience alongside the young talent and huge desire to progress. That mix gives us a very good dynamic in our squad.
"And Fis is one of those players. He came back to us in the summer after his spell at Elversberg in the second division and has taken another step forward. He’s established himself in our team and is doing a very good job, but he still knows he has things to improve in all areas. He needs to keep at that, keep working on his personal development with great ambition and commitment, if he’s to be that strong team player that he’s been so far and helps us play well."
Asllani is apparently on the radar of a number of clubs. What advice would you give to him when being pursued?
Ilzer: "It’s ultimately a positive thing. It’s a fact of our current world with the media and the business of football that you have three or four good games and are then the talk of the town, there’s lots of speculation around you. A player needs to be able to deal with that just like, for example, a striker who’s gone three or four games without scoring. It's the same sort of spell where you say it feels like you’re stagnating, but that’s exactly the time when a player is best prepared for the next big rise. All the stuff that goes on around you is part of the business.
"We try to be alongside our guys there, talk to them, listen to them, so we can focus on what’s important. Like I said, it’s my main job to develop a player’s potential to the maximum. If a player is then of interest to lots of top clubs, then we’re close to doing our job. But the player needs to be able to assess things well and know what he has to do to be able to establish himself at the next level over a longer period once he reaches it, and then take the next step after that."
Watch: The best of Fisnik Asllani
What’s your view of Germany’s No.1 Oliver Baumann, working with him every day? And how fair or unfair do you find the debate around a return for Manuel Neuer in his place in the national team?
Ilzer: "It’s part of the show of football and the media world for there to be debates and polarising opinions among the huge global football audience. That’s what makes this sport so popular, that there are heated discussions in all areas of life. And that’s good. The top professionals can deal with that. My perception of Oli is that he’s a great leader in this club on and off the pitch. He’s been a very positive impact on this club down the years, producing consistent performances on the pitch. And as captain, he’s an extension of the coach with whom you can discuss all manner of issues. And alongside all that, playing for Germany is a huge goal for him.
"First there was qualifying for the World Cup, which they did in style against Slovakia. It was a good collective performance in a final against Slovakia, but Oli has been hugely consistent throughout qualifying. He's that consistent factor for me at the club. Beyond that, I’m Hoffenheim coach and there’s a national team coach who will make decisions that he feels will produce the best performances for Germany at the World Cup."
Andrej Kramarić has a new role in the team. What is his role? He was previously the free-spirited all-rounder but now has a different role.
Ilzer: "Whether it’s Grischa Prömel or Oliver Baumann, Andrej is in that same category. He’s got a big history with the club and has a very good connection with these players who are part of the future. It’s really important for our journey to have these faces of Hoffenheim’s past combine well in the team with younger players. He’s got a very important role there. And on the pitch he’s a real winner. He shows that in every training session. He’s a top pro in not just training but everything beyond that. That’s why he’s enjoyed so much consistency in his performances for many years. He’s important for me on the pitch.
Watch: No current Bundesliga player has more goals than Hoffenheim's Kramarić
"Whether the player is 18 or 40, you simply need players who do their job in the best possible way at both ends of the pitch. And Andrej does that. He has that freedom on the ball. He’s still the creative player he always was who can make good decisions, create space and pose a threat. But he also has his roles out of possession. We’ve got good competition coming from within now, and he accepts that competition as a sportsman. And that helps ensure a good group dynamic."
Related news
Matchday 14 probable teams
Serge Gnabry and Lennart Karl were both on target for Bayern against Sporting. Who will start at home to Mainz?
Bundesliga winter break explained
When and why does the German top tier break? When's the restart? And why you should be excited...
Bundesliga well placed for fifth Champions League spot
The Bundesliga had five teams in the Champions League in 2024/25 and is in the running to repeat that in 2026/27.