Heidenheim fact file
Wednesday, 07. November 2018, 10:00 Uhr
The second division enters its third international break in mid-November. Before it does, the Boys in Brown play host to FC Heidenheim on Saturday (1300 CET). As usual, we've taken a closer look at our next opponents.
Continuity the key
FC Heidenheim place great store in continuity, especially when it comes to their head coach. Current incumbent Frank Schmidt has been at the helm since September 2007. Consistency has also been a feature of the club's transfer activities in recent years. Only seven players came and went in the close season, and there have been just 27 new signings and 23 departures since summer 2016. St. Pauli are the only club with fewer transfers in the same period (25 in, 22 out), though we have had more head coaches, of course.
Reasons to be cheerful
The Boys in Brown are not the only side going well in the league at the moment. Saturday's visitors haven't lost in five games, and their home form has been particularly impressive. Frank Schmidt's team have taken 13 of their 19 points in front of their own fans, who have been treated to three home wins in succession. Heidenheim also defeated SV Sandhausen 3-0 at the Voith-Arena last week to progress to the Round of 16 and earn themselves a home tie against Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen in early February.
Home grown
A look at the squads of all 18 second division clubs reveals that FC Heidenheim have the lowest number of foreign players on their books. Frank Schmidt has just one non-German at his disposal, the Austrian Nikola Dovedan. In Mathias Wittek (German/Polish), Kevin Lankford (German/US) and Kevin Sessa (German/Argentinian), three Heidenheim players hold dual nationality.
Prolific
FCH captain Marc Schnatterer is the club's pivotal player. The attacking wingman, who joined Heidenheim back in 2008, has already scored five goals this season and he has made another five. Schnatterer has contributed 41 goals and 45 assists for the club in total, including three goals and five assists against the Boys in Brown. Only Benjamin Lauth (63 goals, 24 assists) has had a hand in more goals for a second-division team. Schnatterer just needs two more goals or assists to break that record, then.
Barren period
What do strikers like doing most? Why scoring, of course! Heidenheim forward Denis Thomalla finally had a goal to celebrate again last Saturday, and what an important one it was. His strike gave his side a 1-0 home win over Erzgebirge Aue. In doing so, Thomalla ended a long-goal drought. For he had not entered his name on the scoresheet since January, when he was on target in the 2-0 home defeat of Eintracht Braunschweig.
Photos: Eibner