The VfL Wolfsburg footballers gave the right answer to the growing criticism with a 4-0 win in the Bundesliga against SC Freiburg. After three competitive games without a win, the success was only a first step out of the crisis.
After the success, which was well deserved in the end, manager Ralf Kellermann, who had recently publicly criticized the team and individual players, had a good laugh. “It’s my job to put my finger in the wound sometimes. And the reaction today was great,” said Kellermann, feeling confirmed.
After missing the Champions League in the play-offs against Paris FC and losing first place due to the defeat in the top game at Bayern Munich (1:2), the “Welves” were in a much better mood than in the past few weeks. “Of course we are happy about the victory, that we scored a lot of goals and didn’t concede any,” said defender Kathy Hendrich in the NDR Sportclub, but also added: “Just as not everything was bad before, not everything is good now either .”
The top team still lacks “certain automatisms”
Even though coach Tommy Stroot was happy after the game that he had managed to “force Freiburg into their half relatively early and get a certain amount of dominance into this game”, his players were still noticeable for a long time. Hendrich confirmed this bluntly: “In terms of play, we are still below our potential. We have to fight our way out of this phase,” demanded the 31-year-old national player. “At the moment there is simply a lack of self-image and dominance. Sometimes for inexplicable reasons.”
A possible reason could be the coach or his absences in Wolfsburg, which result from the fact that Stroot is currently in the final stages of his coaching training at the DFB. Manager Kellermann also indicated this in his criticism.
Hendrich weighed it down: “We have such a large team of trainers who take on the tasks during the days. They all know what to do.” We are still in close contact with Stroot. However, the fact that after almost a third of the season, according to her, “certain automatisms” are still missing, suggests that a top team like VfL is clearly failing.
Stroot wants to “different pressure situations prepare”
It remains to be seen whether the Wolfsburg women regained their old strength on Sunday or whether the Freiburg women, who have been very changeable this season, were weak. The hosts definitely turned up the heat in the second half. “In the first step it was important for us to get the basics onto the pitch. In the second step it was important to get into the game that we then created,” explained Stroot. From his point of view, “dominance and a certain self-image were apparently quickly back.”
“We have to work through all of this again – through training and games. Then I hope that we can get through this phase, find our way back to our old strength, show our real face and be convincing again.”
— VfL leading player Kathy Hendrich
However, Hendrich didn’t want to go that far: “It’s definitely not all good again.” Even if it doesn’t look that bad “in terms of points” – the Lower Saxony team is still only one point behind the still unbeaten leaders from Munich in the table. Hendrich: “We have analyzed a lot of things. And now we have to continue to work on it meticulously so that everything gets better again.”
The win against Freiburg can only have been a first step. Stroot doesn’t see it any differently: “It’s important for us to continue to stabilize our performance in the next few weeks in order to prepare ourselves for a wide range of pressure situations.”
Wolfsburg women on the way back to old strength?
“It’s not necessarily the best time, you have to be honest, but it’s still an instructive one. I think it’s precisely in phases like these that you learn the most,” said Hendrich. That’s how it is in life and no different in the life of an athlete. She now wants to “hide out everything left and right” with her teammates. Full concentration on the – due to the European Cup exit – only four games left until winter.
In any case, Kellermann’s criticism fell on fertile ground among the players. “I understand him 100 percent. I think he said what we all think or say ourselves,” emphasized Hendrich. “We are all very self-critical and know that we are currently not bringing to the pitch what we are actually capable of and what actually sets VfL apart.” It is important to “survive this phase” in order to then “recover our old strength, show our true face and be convincing again.”
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Sports club | November 12, 2023 | 10:50 p.m
