Matarazzo of Hlozek's form woes: “He needs to read the game.”

Another poor performance from expensive summer addition Adam Hlozek led to one of the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim striker’s fellow new summer additions getting a shot at some league minutes far earlier than many German football watchers expected on Saturday afternoon.

Bosnian striker Haris Tabakovic replaced Hlozek for the second half in this weekend’s league encounter with St. Pauli. While Pellegrino Matarazzo’s Kraichgauer still ended up losing, Tabakovic undoubtedly performed better. Hlozek’s starting role could be in jeopardy.

Hlozek has managed to score three goals in 12 appearances across all comps for Hoffenheim this season, but the numbers still don’t necessarily reflect the reported €18 million that the Sinsheimers paid for him. The Czech international experienced plenty of underachieving spells whilst at Leverkusen as well. 

Speaking on the 22-year-old’s slow start with his new team, Matarazzo has emphasized the talent the 37-times-capped international possesses. The TSG’s American trainer nevertheless has also been quite specific in criticizing Hlozek. 

“The lad definitely has quality,” Matarazzo – as quoted in an article from German footballing journalist Michael Pfeifer – said, “It’s a matter of showing it more often in a tangible way. It’s also his job to deliver when on the pitch.” 

“He needs to be able to read the game,” Matarazzo continues in the article, “to get himself in to good positions, and consistently show depth and presence in the box when we break through.” 

“There were definitely some players who were uncoordinated,” Matarazzo noted when discussing Saturday’s defeat in a separate Pfeifer article, “and there are no excuses when we’re on the pitch. Players feeling tired have the responsibility to tell me they need a break.” 

“Those on the pitch have to perform,” the TSG trainer summed up in the second Pfeifer article, “We’re extremely unhappy to have missed out on a chance to keep our upward trajectory going. We have too few points in the league.”