Coach Ralf Rangnick has bitterly criticized Hoffenheim's players after the team lost the lead in the Bundesliga, saying their "girlfriends' handbags had become more important than football."
Promoted Hoffenheim surprised the Bundesliga by taking the lead early in the season and spending the winter break atop the standings. But the small provincial club, which was in the third division two seasons ago, has struggled since the return from the break, winning one of three games.
Hoffenheim slumped to its first home defeat when it lost 4-1 to Bayer Leverkusen on Friday and surrendered the top of the standings to Hertha Berlin, which beat Bayern Munich 2-1.
"My players have been reading for weeks and months how good they were," coach Rangnick said in an interview published Monday by the local Rhein-Neckar newspaper. "They were treated like pop stars, photographed as models, the handbags of girlfriends became more important that football.
"My players have to concentrate on things that made us so strong in the first half of the season. The way we played against Leverkusen, we don't belong among the teams that expect to finish in the top five places," he said.
Hoffenheim has a tough trip to Stuttgart in the next round of matches and Rangnick said he expected to see much improvement in his team.
The team has lost the league's leading striker, Vedad Ibisevic, for the rest of the season with a knee injury. He scored 18 goals before tearing a knee ligament in a practice match during the winter break.
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