VfL Wolfsburg only winters in tenth place in the Bundesliga. Too little for your own needs. Managing director Marcel Schäfer wants to see more, but has great trust in the team and also in coach Niko Kovac, as he revealed to NDR at the training camp in Portugal.
As of now, VfL is only five points behind the European Cup positions that were set as a goal before the season. But Maximilian Arnold doesn’t want to sugarcoat the situation: “We lost nine times, only 19 points after 16 games – that’s not satisfactory,” said the captain at the training camp in Portugal. “It’s a tricky situation and you shouldn’t underestimate it.”
“Continue to grow and mature as a team” in Portugal
Wolfsburg is one of the few clubs that has even set out to prepare for the rest of the season. Because the ball is rolling again in the Bundesliga next weekend, most people have decided to stay at home.
The “Wolves” tread a very special path. Coach Niko Kovac gave his players the shortest break ever. Even before New Year’s Eve, the first two days of preparatory training began after the Christmas break – the last game was on December 20th against Bayern. After “three nice days off” (Arnold’s quote), we went to Portugal.
“We are a bit behind our own expectations. You have to be honest with yourself.”
—Marcel Schäfer
The right decision for managing director Marcel Schäfer. It is important to spend a few more days together as a team: “Not just on the training field, but also outside of it. So that we can continue to grow and mature as a team.”
Performance so far below expectations
Schäfer, who, after his time as sports director, said he was no longer as close to the team and the coaching team last year (“My new job is more strategic”), analyzed the performance in the first half of the season in detail and formulated the goal for them remaining 18 games brash: “Of course we want to go into attack mode now. We have left points behind. We are a bit behind our own expectations. You have to be honest with yourself. One thing or another didn’t work, how we imagined it.”
The team can only make up for this “through performance on the pitch”. At least in terms of commitment and discipline, things were right again in the last few weeks before the winter break. In December, however, there was only one win (1-0 in Darmstadt) and even the exit from the DFB Cup (0-1 after extra time in Mönchengladbach).
What potential does the team and coach Kovac have?
That’s why there was already speculation about Coach Kovac’s exit. But the Croatian was very confident. And Schäfer now spoke of a “great trust in this group – in the team and in the coaching team.” Everyone has already shown that “they can perform very well”. However, one look at the table is enough to see that this has rarely been reflected in results. Or in Schäfer’s words: “We have good guys and a good coach. It just didn’t work out that way together once or twice.”
Casteels: “Improve and deliver in all areas”
Veteran Koen Casteels, who is entering his last six months in Wolfsburg, has not identified “one thing” as a problem. After games with many scoring chances, of which too few were taken, came games with far too few opportunities. “It’s a mixture of everything,” emphasizes the goalkeeper. “We have to try to improve in all areas. And then we have to deliver.”
If possible, on January 13th (3:30 p.m./in the NDR Livecenter) at 1. FSV Mainz 05. Nobody should make the mistake of looking too far ahead, emphasizes Schäfer. His goal: “the best possible performance in the game against Mainz.” If the Rheinhessen team manages to “take the three points away, then their belief in their own strength and quality will be greater again, and their self-confidence will be greater again.”
Nmecha and Wimmer as Bearers of hope
The German national player Lukas Nmecha and the Austrian international Patrick Wimmer, who have missed large parts of the season so far due to injury, are back on the pitch in Portugal. Schäfer hopes that they will be good for one or two goals in the remaining games. You can’t expect miracles from the two offensive players too early. “But we’re really looking forward to them being back on the pitch and helping us score points.”
Captain Arnold sums it up: “Six months like this don’t have to happen again.”
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Sports current | 01/04/2024 | 3:17 p.m
