Next defeat
Coach Niko Kovac is not up for discussion at VfL Wolfsburg even after the 0-1 defeat against SC Freiburg. Sports director Marcel Schäfer renewed his commitment to the 52-year-old coach on Saturday after the game. “I stand by my statement,” said the former VfL professional. “We are going through a brutally difficult phase. I don’t want to talk about her being more beautiful than she is. But I feel like we can do this together.”
The Wolfsburg team have only won one of the last eight games in the Bundesliga and, as eleventh in the table, are already seven points behind their targeted European Cup places. VfL was also eliminated from the DFB Cup on Tuesday with a 0-1 defeat after extra time at Borussia Mönchengladbach. After 14 match days, the “Wolves” are in eleventh place with the fifth most valuable squad in the Bundesliga – 255 million euros. At the same time in 2022/23, VfL had 20 points, four more. At the end of the season the club reached eighth place. Just like this year, the DFB Cup ended in the round of 16, against Union Berlin.
Kovac himself was once again combative after the unfortunate defeat against Freiburg. “Let’s move on, keep your head up!” said the former Bayern coach. “Those who know me well know how close I feel about something like this. But those who know me also know: My last name is Farrier. I can work – and that’s what we will do. Bad luck is on our side at the moment. But you have to look forward. The team gave everything and invested everything today.”
Kovac, who has been criticized by some Wolfsburg fans, has been in office since July 2022. In 53 competitive games he has an average points average of 1.45, which is higher than that of his predecessors Florian Kohfeldt (1.14) and Mark van Bommel (1.15). Between 2019 and 2021, Oliver Glasner performed better than Kovac at VfL with 1.67 PPS, just like Bruno Labbadia, who was on the sidelines in front of Glasner (1.52).
Since promotion to the Bundesliga: All Wolfsburg coaches with a record
Before the Freiburg game, the Croatian said: “It’s difficult mentally at the moment because we don’t have any success. But I am convinced that things will definitely change. I stick with it: This team, these players have enough quality to go in a different direction. You need the necessary factor of luck.” Against the Breisgau team, the “Wolves” were dominant, as they were against Gladbach, but were unable to convert the chances into goals.
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