Earlier this year, Philipp Hosiner’s expectations were huge. Now it is clear: the Austrian is not an extraterrestrial, but a guy who can offer added value, even off the pitch.
Offenbach – He is the oldest outside player of Offenbach. He has had a lot to do in his professional career, during which Champions League appearances with Austria Wien were also part of everyday life. Perhaps it is these past successes that have pushed Philipp Hosiner’s expectations to absurd dimensions since his move to regional football team Kickers Offenbach in the winter of this year.
“I have entered a phase of great euphoria – says the 33-year-old, declared” away king “- and should finally give the signal of promotion. 25 appearances in the regional championship later it is clear: Hosiner is not an extraterrestrial, but a boy who it can offer added value, even off the pitch. “I got rid of the spasms,” explains Hosiner as he coped with Offenbach’s “extremely difficult first phase”.
In recent weeks Hosiner is an example of the change that the change of coach has triggered in OFC. Under the leadership of interim coach Alfred Kaminski and now Ersan Parlatan, the form of the man who arrived at Offenbach with a ten-goal recommendation and nine assists in the third division promotion season from Dynamo Dresden showed a strong tendency to rise. In Kassel (1-0), against Fulda-Lehnerz (1-1), against Walldorf (3-0) and more recently at VfB Stuttgart II (2-0), Hosiner was in the starting XI and proved to be the his team can help. Always playable and with a lot of running, he played his role as a striker. He remembers the 1-1 draw against Fulda-Lehnerz as one of his best matches in an OFC suit. Hosiner scored the 1-0: “But I should have scored one or two more goals”. As always, he reviewed this match “to see if my perception on the pitch was different”. He had seen a match “in which I made many right decisions, unfortunately also two wrong ones that I didn’t make”.
Hosiner, who would like to get his first coaching license soon, feels like a player and often thinks like a manager. He is one of those footballers who reflect a lot on themselves and on sport. “But if you haven’t done your normal performance for a long time, you start to have doubts,” admits Hosiner. “I’m not a machine, I’m a person.” Especially when a coach counts him publicly at a press conference of the day. “What sense does it make if someone has played 15 Bundesliga games but doesn’t make it to the pitch,” said coach Alexander Schmidt before the match against FSV Frankfurt (3-1). A criticism that was probably addressed to Törles Knöll and Hosiner and that affected both of them deeply. “Not in terms of the content, but in terms of the way it’s done – it’s unusual when a manager first makes it public and then discusses it with the team,” says Hosiner.
Internal communication is now completely different. “Alfred Kaminski has always strengthened me, gave me small impulses, and things keep going seamlessly under Ersan Parlatan. It’s fun to train and implement what the coach says,” says Hosiner. The father of a 16-month-old son is convinced that the chemistry between the coach and the team is extremely important. “They must all be in the same boat, it’s not always easy as a coach because you have to make decisions at all times”, he says: “In the end, it is measured by the sum of the decisions”.
Hosiner wants to prove to the OFC that the development of the last four unbeaten games is no coincidence. “We are stable and make better use of our possibilities. Everyone knows they can rely on each other, “he says. SSV leader Ulm 1846 should hear it on Friday (7pm).” The mountain will burn, “says Hosiner happily:” We want to inflict Ulm’s first defeat. “
By Joerg Moll
