Ingolstadt found their first season back in the second division tough going as they never looked like winning promotion and ended up in ninth spot.
Ingolstadt started the season with arguably the strongest squad, even if they did have to sell a handful of players. But first under Mark Walpurgis and then Stefan Leitl, the club failed to build any momentum and the highest position they would achieve was fourth.
There was plenty of optimism in the squad ahead of the campaign. But that quickly evaporated as Ingolstadt proceeded to lose their first three games of the season and Walpurgis was axed as head coach.
Under new head coach Leitl the team improved but continued to stutter and the most back to back wins they managed was three. After Christmas Ingolstadt failed to pick up the pace and by the final phase of the campaign their promotion hopes were all but over. In the final six games of the season they would only win a single match showing just how little motivation Leitl’s side had.
While initially appearing to have a very strong squad going into the season, holes quickly appeared. One area which was truly lacking was in attack as none of their strikers managed to find any consistent form during the season.
Most of the goalscoring threat came from winger Sonny Kittel who was by far the best player in the squad. He ended the season with 10 goals and 13 assists so he will surely be on bigger sides’ watch list.
Thomas Pledl also offered some support with 4 goals and 5 assists. But Leitl, if he is to stay in charge until next season, will surely want to strengthen the attack as only then will they be able to hope to win promotion again.
