his German is so fluent that you barely notice he's not a native speaker (it's certainly better than the German of most Germans ;-) I seem to recall that his wife is half american I always thought he's gonna cut his way and still think so; everything you need ;-) is there: “I got the positive thinking from the Americans and the belief that everything is possible. From the Italians the temperament, I can get very emotional. And from the Germans order, structure and discipline.” but Stuttgart won only 3 out of 26 matches in 2022... they seldomly sucked but again and again just didn't brought the points home, often in an unfortunate way pretty sure he's back in Bundesliga sooner or later
Name in the hopper for Hoffenheim boss: Derek Rae @RaeComm US-born coach Pellegrino Matarazzo who has previously worked at Hoffenheim is a name being bandied about as a candidate for the head coach vacancy. But other potential candidates are Domenico Tedesco & Matthias Kaltenbach who also have TSG pasts.
Strong possibility that he's the man: Derek Rae @RaeComm Pellegrino Matarazzo is on the verge of being officially named Hoffenheim head coach. Worth noting he lives in the area, family settled there & previous spent 2.5 years on the TSG staff. #TSG
Official. Welcome back, Rino 🤝Pellegrino Matarazzo is the new Head Coach of #TSG Hoffenheim and has signed a contract until 30th June 2025. pic.twitter.com/jqtlcyf8WM— TSG Hoffenheim EN (@tsghoffenheimEN) February 8, 2023
https://www.espn.com/soccer/tsg-hof...oach-pellegrino-matarazzo-hired-by-hoffenheim So happy to see this. He did great at Stuttgart, getting them promoted and keeping them up for 2 years.
There's already a Matarazzo thread: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/pellegrino-matarazzo-head-coach-at-vfb-stuttgart.2016732/
Mods, feel free to delete. Since he was at Stuttgart, then fired, then a multi-month gap, I felt like it was OK to post as news.
From a fan's point of view, I would have simply wished for a more exciting environment for him. Stuttgart to Hoffenheim is like Leeds to Bournemouth.
Derek Rae translated parts of a Kicker interview on Twitter (yea! -- future BSers can search what happened to Twitter in July 2023): Derek Rae @RaeComm Hoffenheim coach Pellegrino Matarazzo tells Kicker: “I have various influences. I grew up in the USA where a rather goal-orientated, optimistic mindset is called for. I always believe in success. That’s part of me & is of help to me.” Matarazzo on the USA: “My time as a footballer was not pleasant because it wasn’t seen as a sport (in the USA) then. Not until the 1994 World Cup did a certain acceptance arrive. Previously I had to listen to that but the passion was too great to give up.” Matarazzo on his Italian family who helped him: “They immigrated to the USA from Italy & there when you’re in another country you come together, seek protection with each other & you experience an unbelievable assistance. I felt unconditional love every day & that was amazing.” Matarazzo on whether the USA can be a big power by 2026: “Whether it will happen by then, I’m not sure. But I believe the USA can become a big force. The country is too large & too ambitious for it not to be a possibility, & also too far along the way in terms of sports Science.” Matarazzo on US potential: “It’s only a matter of time before the necessary game intelligence & tactical education are in place, in order to play a big role in the coming years.” Matarazzo on Germany & German: “I’ve been here 23 years & my wife is German. I love the language. It’s a great language when it comes to expressing yourself precisely & in a deep way, it’s very flexible & tremendously mechanical.”