- Waldhof starts in Ingolstadt with a completely new squad
With a revamped squad, but without a concrete season goal, third-tier football club SV Waldhof Mannheim begins the new season against FC Ingolstadt. Eleven new players have joined, while twelve have left after a season in which the Waldhof narrowly avoided relegation, finishing 16th in the table.
"We have our first game in Ingolstadt, and we want to win. I've never made further predictions," coach Marco Antwerpen said before the opening game on Sunday (7:30 PM/Magenta Sport).
Anthony Loviso, Technical Director of Sports, has been emphasizing for weeks that the recent second half of the season should be the benchmark. Mannheim finished that in seventh place. Therefore, anything short of an improvement in the final standings would be considered a disappointment.
The squad composition is good
Antwerp is convinced of the quality of the squad, which has been strengthened by the additions of Maximilian Thalhammer, Nicklas Shipnoski, Rico Benatelli, Felix Lohkemper, and Adrian Fein, all of whom have experience in the second division. "The team should be better in all areas," he says. Missing in Ingolstadt will be goalkeeper Malwin Zok and defender Jonas Carls.
The first match of the season for SV Waldhof Mannheim, now with a strengthened squad, is against FC Ingolstadt in Mannheim's absence. Despite the revamp, Technical Director Anthony Loviso expects an improvement, as Mannheim finished the second half of the last season in a commendable seventh position in the table.
