Marcel Schäfer’s sticking with coach Niko Kovac brings a lot of criticism. How does the managing director and club icon of VfL Wolfsburg deal with this?
Complicated phase: Wolfsburg’s managing director Marcel Schäfer. IMAGO/Christian Schroedter
“The coach stays.” With this sentence alone, Marcel Schäfer isn’t exactly making himself popular with his own followers these days. The coach, Niko Kovac, is viewed very critically in the Wolfsburg environment, which is not surprising to managing director Schäfer given the development of the sport. And what he accepts. Likewise, the fact that Schäfer is increasingly being blamed for sticking with the coach, who has neither ensured success nor good football this season. He, the VfL veteran who has identified with this club and the Wolfsburg location like no other over the past almost 17 years, is himself the target of critics. “That,” says Schäfer matter-of-factly, “is what the task entails.”
The manager could make it easy for himself. He could relieve the coach, whom he guided to Wolfsburg a year and a half ago, of his duties and thus present the public with someone to blame for the sporting misery. But that’s not how the 39-year-old works, he clings to conviction – or is it just hope? – that it is still possible to “go through this together.” If this conviction is missing, then Schäfer, as the past has shown in the case of the dismissal of Kovac’s predecessor Florian Kohfeldt, does not shy away from making and representing this decision.
Criticism of Schäfer? “I can classify it well”
Schäfer, as the person primarily responsible, accepts the risk that “business as usual” with Kovac will damage his own reputation in his club. “The challenge is not only to be there in good times, but above all to go through such phases,” says the ex-professional. “It’s logical that criticism comes and that there is also criticism of the sporting leadership. I can classify that well.” But he doesn’t allow himself to be driven by public voices and media opinions. “My job is always to evaluate things objectively and calmly in order to then make good decisions for VfL Wolfsburg to the best of my knowledge and belief. I am very happy to take on this responsibility.”
Mahomes vs. Purdy: Who will win the Super Bowl? (with Christoph Kröger)
The football highlight of the year is just around the corner: the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. On Sunday the Kansas City Chiefs face the San Francisco 49ers. The quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes versus Brock Purdy. Who will take the NFL crown?
5 hours 15:30 minutes ago
Now there is not only the manager Schäfer, but also the people. The one who was captain in Wolfsburg, became German champion and cup winner, and who has been the face and mouthpiece of this club for ages. For many, it was an emotional support in the many complicated phases that VfL found itself in from time to time. And who now utters sentences like “The coach stays”, which for many people doesn’t seem like a calming pill, but rather becomes an accelerant.
“… then you don’t just shake it off at the front door”
Which also makes Schäfer, everyone’s darling in Wolfsburg for years, a bogeyman among parts of his supporters. A fact that he tries to ignore, but that still doesn’t leave him unscathed. “Of course the situation concerns me,” he emphasizes. “When you’ve been at a club for 17 years and have a difficult phase like this, you don’t just shake it off at the front door. I’m too ambitious for that, I live this club with all my heart and soul.”
When Schäfer’s looks and sentences become razor-sharp
As a player, Schäfer acted highly emotionally; as a manager, he was required to be level-headed. He sees it as “disrespect” when names of potential Kovac successors with whom he is said to have spoken are circulated, when untruths are spread. This makes this preferably calm manager angry, and his looks and sentences become razor-sharp. His goal, he emphasized again after Wolfsburg’s 2-2 draw against Hoffenheim, was to end the season with Niko Kovac. To do this, VfL urgently needs victories. Ideally on Saturday (3:30 p.m., LIVE! on kicker) at Union Berlin.
2024-02-08 19:33:14
#Everybodys #Darling #bogeyman #Schäfers #handling #criticism
