Dhe keeps the story small with his blue sweater. Yes, that will probably bring him luck. Has cashmere shares and is washed regularly. Niko Kovac does not allow much more trara with this special outfit. The VfL Wolfsburg head coach likes to do his job objectively and in secret. His public analyzes protect the inner workings of a team that understands him better and better. The Wolfsburg have been undefeated for eight games.
During the same period, Kovac always wears this sweater on match days, which may not exactly be Champions League fashion, but makes for a humorous anecdote about a tough guy. “We have to change old ways of behaving and thinking,” says the coach about his work in Wolfsburg. That sounds harsh and harsh. It should. Kovac likes uncomfortable paths that lead a collective to the goal.
After their last home game in 2022, they were surprisingly open and talkative. On Tuesday, coaches and players gave interesting insights into the inner workings of VfL Wolfsburg Fußball GmbH – obviously happy about the 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund. “Niko Kovac,” said central defender Micky van de Ven, “is a good coach who is very clear.” About two months ago, Kovac was the new coach in Wolfsburg who threatened to gallop with his brusque manner. He demanded a lot, constantly changed his starting eleven and, with his idea of good football, paid little heed to the professionals available to him.
Meanwhile, compromises between team and coach and stable results favor change. Kovac climbs with a young team in the Bundesliga table to where VfL Wolfsburg should be placed on behalf of the Volkswagen Group – not in the middle, but better in the front row. This Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) it is against TSG Hoffenheim for the next points.
Kovac is still playing himself inside
It’s fun to watch formerly rough footballer Niko Kovac coach on the sidelines. When players cross and shoot, his twitching limbs suggest he’s still playing himself inside. At the age of 51, the former FC Bayern Munich coach is one of those trainers who demand discipline and diligence above all as the basis for performance and success. “We have to work harder physically than the others,” says Kovac.
In order for his ideal to be followed, clear words were necessary. In mid-September, after the 2-0 defeat at Union Berlin, things got loud at VfL and the coach felt uncomfortable. “We put our heads together back then and hit each other’s heads with a few truths,” reports team captain Maximilian Arnold. As a link between the team and the coach, he was in demand as a mediator. Because Kovac couldn’t understand why many of his players had worked to rule for a long time instead of full throttle.
Giving everything: That’s what Niko Kovac (in the background) demands from his professionals around Lukas Nmecha.
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Image: AFP
Strictly speaking, there was not this one sense of achievement or this special victory that finally brought Kovac to Wolfsburg. When looking back at five wins, five draws and four defeats, one event must not be left out. With the very opinionated and little adapted offensive player Max Kruse, there was a player in the VfL team who did not want to adapt. Different from the others: That doesn’t exist with Kovac, who first set up Kruse less often and then deleted him from the squad.
The trial of strength between a rather sober and a rather extravagant view of professional sport distracted from the actual work. Thanks to the backing of managing director Jörg Schmadtke and sports director Marcel Schäfer, Kovac had more leverage than Kruse, who had now been booted out. The latter keeps reporting on his colorful life on social networks. Kovac is silent, does without Kruse and prefers to let the results speak for themselves.
Kovac’s greatest strength in Wolfsburg is that he manages to make something special out of normal in his own way. When he whistles, swears and moans at his workplace, it gets things going and pushes the players out of their comfort zone. Kovac has turned Yannick Gerhardt, Felix Nmecha and Omar Marmoush into extremely committed, really good regular players. Overall, the cohesion and the game idea are getting better and better.
“It takes time. I know there is no time. And I don’t want to beg for time either,” says the coach who was sacked at AS Monaco earlier this year. His start in Wolfsburg got off to a bumpy start in the summer. In late autumn, the most dangerous season for unsuccessful football coaches, the cooperation at VfL bears fruit. Will it therefore inevitably be more harmonious or funnier? Has Kovac become calmer, friendlier or more relaxed? “No,” reveals Captain Arnold. “And that’s just as well.”
