Coach Niko Kovač is staying for the time being – even if VfL Wolfsburg is only trying to draw against Hoffenheim. How should things go uphill in sport?
Thanks primarily to compatriot Lovro Majer, his coach Niko Kovač’s career at Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg is continuing for the time being. “We don’t have to talk about his qualities,” said the coach on Sunday after the 2-2 (0-1) draw against TSG Hoffenheim. “The left foot he has. There aren’t many in the Bundesliga.”
The Croatian international came on as a substitute on Sunday and made the draw possible with his two goals. In the event of a defeat, the pressure on the coach, who has come under criticism, would have been even greater.
Kovač casually smiled away the discussion. “All I can say is that I have played a lot of finals in my life – and won a lot of them,” he said. Managing director Marcel Schäfer confirmed that the 52-year-old Croatian will remain in office for the time being. “Niko remains the coach,” the ex-professional made it clear and noted that Kovač will be on the training pitch on Monday.
Schäfer rejected speculation about successor candidates. “I see that as a huge disrespect,” he said. Among other things, there were reports that VfL was interested in St. Pauli’s coach Fabian Hürzeler and that discussions had already taken place. Schäfer denied this and found that the reports were “disrespectful towards FC St. Pauli too”. Hürzeler also said at the weekend that the reports had “extremely irritated and extremely annoyed” him.
Continue with Kovač
Kovač can continue to drive for the time being. But how is the sputtering VfL engine supposed to get going again? The people of Lower Saxony are languishing through this season. The club from the Auto-City is currently well away from the European Cup places they longed for before the season. At the moment, fans mainly see middle class. The eleventh place in the table is eight points away from sixth place. For the Wolves, the draw against Hoffenheim was the fourth in a row and the fifth game without a win in the league.
Schäfer was annoyed by the draw against Hoffenheim. “Not everything works out, yes, we know that,” he said. But the comeback strength of the Kovač team impressed him. “Nevertheless, the team is alive and willing to implement things,” he praised.
“Morale was right”
The performance, which was weak at times and full of errors, was not a great football treat for long stretches. But Kovač liked his team’s fighting spirit. “The morale of the team was good,” said the coach and spoke of a “deserved” point.
Kovač was full of praise for his midfielder Majer (59th minute/70th), who canceled out Hoffenheim’s opening goals by Maximilian Beier (6th) and Grischa Prömel (66th). The second Hoffenheim goal caused a lot of frustration for Kovač. A mistake made by captain Maximilian Arnold and goalkeeper Koen Casteels led to this. “That can’t happen to us,” said the coach angrily. “This is another blatant and gross game-building mistake.”
And Lower Saxony should avoid doing that as quickly as possible when they face relegation candidate Union Berlin on Saturday (from 3:30 p.m. in the t-online live ticker). With a win, the Berliners could move within three points of VfL.