Bawkward questions paved their way. Do you have to worry about VfL Wolfsburg? Do its professionals lack the basic virtues necessary for their profession? The Wolfsburg 2:4 home defeat against 1. FC Köln was followed by quite sharp debates. “It’s inexplicable. We make too many mistakes,” said VfL captain Maximilian Arnold.
His new coach spoke even more plainly: “We all have to question whether what we are doing is enough,” said Niko Kovac. Under his direction, VfL Wolfsburg is still without a win after five Bundesliga matches. Kovac missed the necessary willingness to fight duels and put the opponent under pressure in the duel with the snappy Cologne team.
Two goals from Wolfsburg by Lukas Nmecha were offset by an own goal by Paulo Otavio and three goals from Cologne by Dejan Ljubicic, Florian Kainz (penalty) and Sargis Adamyan. Why? Because the away team convinced as a unit. And because at VfL neither the routes nor the game tactics were right. Kovac has been looking for a stable basic formation with VfL Wolfsburg since the start of the season.
What doesn’t succeed during the game continues after the end of the game. When the team moved towards the fan curve, it looked very hesitant at first and was then quickly stopped. Arnold and Co. couldn’t hide their disappointment. And Kovac’s run after the final whistle – apart from a little handshake – quickly took him away from the inside of the stadium.
Simple formula: you or me?
What slows VfL Wolfsburg on the way to recovery is a strange lethargy. Thanks to Kovac, powerful and dynamic football should actually be played on the banks of the Mittelland Canal. In a duel with the enthusiastic Cologne team, this plan failed again after just a few minutes.
And there was no leader in sight who could have caused a turnaround with force, aggression or any other stylistic device. The coach wishes for the tough duels and tough duels that he and his brother Robert preferred as players. You or I? Kovac sums up what football is all about in this simple formula. Unfortunately, his team fails to follow.
Alarmingly early in the 2022/23 season, it is difficult in Wolfsburg to keep calm and composure. The hard core of the fans are already starting to whistle in disappointment. The trainer thinks that an improvement has to happen damn fast. And the sports management wants the inexplicable mistakes in the game structure and when defending to be explicable.
“We have to work hard to ensure that we function as a group,” demands Wolfsburg sporting director Marcel Schäfer. It remains to be seen whether this is primarily an appeal to the players or the new coach. Schäfer asserts that Kovac is very firmly in the saddle in Wolfsburg. The successor to Mark van Bommel (released in October 2021) and Florian Kohfeldt (released in May 2022) is demonstratively backed.
