The last moments together were marked by anger and frustration. The hard core fans mocked the home team. The club management refused to provide the coach with further support. Despite the more than unfortunate situation, giving up was out of the question for Niko Kovac, even after eleven games without a win in a row with VfL Wolfsburg.
The separation announced on Sunday morning ended a collaboration that can definitely be filed under the heading of misunderstanding in the Wolfsburg club chronicle. Kovac joined VfL in the summer of 2022 with the aim of one day bringing the club another title.
The reality was: Wolfsburg needed a new impetus to avoid becoming even more involved in the relegation battle. Ralph Hasenhüttl should now give it to him. The Austrian, who most recently worked in Southampton from 2018 to 2022 and previously worked in Leipzig and Ingolstadt, has signed a longer-term contract, VfL announced a few hours after the first news of the day.
It must have been clear to Kovac that the separation was imminent. “These boys live, are hard-working and will reward themselves – no matter who is the coach here,” he said at the press conference after his last game as VfL head coach. Once again his team started well, played well and lost in the end. The 3-1 home defeat against FC Augsburg was followed by a decision that VfL managing director Marcel Schäfer in particular apparently believed could be postponed until the end of the season.
But the fans’ criticism and media pressure are now joined by existential concerns. The fear of being relegated from the Bundesliga had become greater than the courage to continue employing Kovac. With him, his brother Robert and Aaron Briggs also lose their positions as assistant coaches.
No tactical development
Remarkably brave and stubborn, Kovac had tried to make something good out of a lack of success in recent weeks. “Opponents dealt with”, “chances created”, “played well”: the coach’s perception is correct that there is a big gap between what was seen and what was achieved. Nevertheless, even after matchday 26, there was no VfL professional in sight who turned away from Kovac or criticized his approach.
Sad in the finish: Niko Kovac : Image: IMAGO/Christian Schroedter
Players and coaches struggled with great effort through a time that was characterized by significantly more work and reason than joy of play and creativity. In a duel with the better teams in the league, it is no longer enough to focus on discipline, fitness and commitment. In a year and a half at VfL Wolfsburg, Kovac has not managed to further develop his basic idea of security-oriented possession football. Anyone who has to explain on the tactics board what exactly could be special about Wolfsburg’s current game idea is faced with an exciting or impossible task.
This last home game fit perfectly with the dramaturgy of Kovac’s failure. Thanks to a goal from Patrick Wimmer, Wolfsburg had an early lead against Augsburg. They had enough scoring chances to finally manage to win again. But a controversial sending off for Wimmer was followed by three goals, a lot of ridicule from the stands and annoyed reactions. “Of course that touches me,” said team captain Maximilian Arnold about the situation at a club that still has lofty ambitions despite a reduced budget.
Money and potential
On the last matchday of the 2022/23 season, VfL Wolfsburg, under the direction of Kovac, lost their place in the Europa League. The belief that something could grow and mature with him afterwards turned out to be a misjudgment. Schäfer, as the managing director and sports director Sebastian Schindzielorz responsible for the professional team, now has to put up with critical questions as to whether they held on to Kovac and the hope for improvement for too long.
The question remains exciting as to what content is important to Schäfer when formulating the job advertisement for the new trainer’s position. VfL Wolfsburg actually wants to be a club that avoids particularly expensive transfers, develops motivated personnel and is still eligible for a place in international football. There is a lot of money and potential in the current squad of players, most of which was put together by Schäfer’s predecessor Jörg Schmadtke.
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We are now looking for a trainer who is more convincing, develops, designs and inspires. “What do you want to say as a coach when you have 25 points and I alone always have to say that it’s still good. At some point you will feel a bit stupid,” said Kovac shortly before his dismissal. The former coach of Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich and AS Monaco had repeatedly showcased his many years of experience. After the home defeat against Augsburg it became clear for the first time that his attempts to explain were also mixed with helplessness and gallows humor. Kovac’s leave of absence separated something from VfL Wolfsburg, which had grown far too little together with him in terms of content and interpersonal relationships.
