Sejad Salihovic has had a season of mixed fortunes, with a series of injury problems just like his teammate Bicakcic hampering his campaign. Unlike his compatriot, Salihovic has found it much harder to become a regular in the Hoffenheim lineup, making just two starts to date, including the 2014 finale, an 0-5 drubbing of Hertha Berlin in which Salihovic scored twice from the penalty spot. Salihovic’s lack of form and consistency has seen him fall down the pecking order for both club and country, but perhaps the game against Hertha could be used as a catalyst to re-establish himself as a key figure for Hoffenheim and the Bosnian national team.
Also having a tough time is Vedad Ibisevic, whose Stuttgart side lie just two points above an automatic relegation spot. The team has been bad enough, but it has really been a fall campaign to forget for the striker. Having failed to net even a single goal since January, Ibisevic’s sluggish form continued through the entirety of 2014. To make matters worse, he spent the majority of the past two months on the sidelines because of injury problems. The ways things are going for Vedo and his employer, it may be possible that a change of scenery is in the cards in the near future, just as it was three years ago when Ibisevic swapped Hoffenheim for Stuttgart mid-season. Though, with Ibisevic returning to full team training, winter training may be the fresh start he desperately needs to regain his confidence and scoring touch heading into 2015 following what was undoubtedly his worst year to date.
by Edin Halilovic
(Source: bundesligafanatic/ photo kip)
