We were still in the first part of the football season out in Europe, but for VFL Bochum, the course set by coach Dieter Hecking and sporting director Dirk Dufner was already in the direction of relegation from the 2. Bundesliga. Both were fired in mid-September 2025, at the beginning of October, Uwe Rösler was in place as a rescuer. The former Lillestrøm coach has not only created an insane energy in the group of players and in front of the supporters, wearing shorts throughout the winter, the results since Rösler took over are remarkably strong.
When Rösler took over, Bochum stood with a poor 3 points in 7 games. With eight games left in the season, Bochum have climbed to 9th place in the table.
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In his first year after being relegated to the second division, Bochum struggled to find a foothold. Dieter Hecking had to deal with a major change in the squad with 16 out and 11 new signings. The 61-year-old was unable to cope with this, and after four losses in the first five league games, he was sacked. Interim coach David Siebers suffered the same fate. Since October, Rösler has been injecting energy and experience.
Looking at the table from the league round Rösler took over, VfL Bochum would have been in fourth place. The team from Castroper Straße has only lost two matches in this period (albeit with many draws).
German Sky Sports highlights that the players, including the 19-year-old shooting star Lenz, have really found their form since Rösler took over. When Bochum signed Rösler in October, the sporting director explained what expectations they had of the former Lillestrøm coach: “He impressed us in our conversations with his experience and authority. We hope that he can give the team stability, so that we can have a more stable position in the league as soon as possible.”
Authority and stability, Bochum has got the whole Rösler package.
In November, Bochum scored three goals against Greuter Fürth in the first 17 minutes of the game. That’s something Bochum has only achieved once before in their previous 1857 professional football matches! In the cup, Rösler led Bochum to a very strong round of 8 after a shock win against Bundesliga club Augsburg (then lost to Stuttgart).
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The Bochum players and supporters love their Rösler, so far it has been quite a journey, with continued climbing the table. In the previous league game, Bochum took a strong point against Hertha Berlin away from home, before a 3-2 win against Kaiserslautern, both clubs above the table.
Rösler continues to impress!
