Wolfsburg (dpa) – Mark van Bommel had actually chosen a good time for his first major interview in Germany after being kicked out at VfL Wolfsburg.
At the end of October, the former Bayern captain had to leave as VfL coach after eight games without a win. And many thought at the time: It can hardly get any worse with this Champions League squad.
Only 0-0 against Hertha BSC
But almost three months later, Wolfsburg slipped from ninth place at the time of van Bommel’s farewell to the middle of the relegation zone of the Bundesliga. The 0-0 draw against Hertha BSC ended an agonizing series of eight defeats in a row. Nevertheless, the new coach Florian Kohfeldt said afterwards: “We have taken a step forward in performance, but it has not yet been enough for the big liberation.” There is “no reason to believe: It will be back. We have to keep the reins extremely tight.”
That could have been a moment for van Bommel to explain to the TV station Bild: “I wasn’t VfL’s only problem this season.” And the facts would have even proved him right. But the former “aggressive leader” of FC Bayern Munich held back at this moment, just as he had often remained friendly and vague when dealing with his players in Wolfsburg: “I want to be back on the pitch as soon as possible Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for so long,” said the 44-year-old. “But I would like to go back to the Bundesliga.”
Van Bommel’s problem at VfL was that he wanted to convert the successful counter-attacking football of his predecessor Oliver Glasner into a very contrary ball possession game without conveying that sufficiently. Kohfeldt’s problem is that he has always been able to name and analyze the many problems of a team that is sometimes fed up, disoriented and increasingly insecure, but has not yet been able to fix it in the long term.
After all, the game against Hertha, who was similarly disappointing this season, would have had the potential to further shake his position. At least the performance and the clear increase in chances against the Berliners were seen as progress by everyone in Wolfsburg.
Kohfeldt feels support
“Inside, I feel a lot of trust in the team. And I feel an extremely high level of trust from Jörg Schmadtke (Managing Director Sport) and Marcel Schäfer (Sports Director). My feeling is that we are still a long way from this point,” said Kohfeldt the program “Sky90 – die Fußballdebatte” about his fear of a premature separation, as happened to van Bommel.
Since the start of winter preparations on December 29, the 39-year-old has seen an improvement in his team, which has not yet been reflected in results, but which should now lead VfL step by step out of the crisis. “Anyone who has followed us in the last few weeks must almost doubt what I’m seeing in training,” said Kohfeldt after the Hertha game. “But we had really good training in the last three weeks. And today the team realized that this work is paying off and that we are making a step forward.”
Next Sunday at RB Leipzig, at the latest in the next home game against the bottom of the table SpVgg Greuther Fürth (February 6), they finally need a win again.
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