Mark van Bommel's time as head coach at VfL Wolfsburg did not last long but was pretty eventful. The first competitive match in the DFB Cup at Preußen Münster ended with a mistake in making substitutions with the former Leverkusen player Admir Mehmedi coming off the bench in extra time as the sixth player – this led to them being expelled from the competition. The team from Lower Saxony made a perfect start in the Bundesliga winning their first four games and were at the top of the table. Then a lot headed in the opposite direction at Wolfsburg. The Wolves went eight games without a win including four successive defeats in the league. After a 2-0 defeat against Freiburg on the last matchday, the club management parted company with van Bommel. That means Saturday's game at the BayArena will be the first outing for the new VfL coach. As announced by the club on Tuesday, Florian Kohfeldt has signed a contract to 2023 with the mission of getting Wolfsburg back to winning ways. "There is lots of quality and dynamism in this team and we want to work together to show that again on the pitch," said the former Werder Bremen coach. He does not have much time initially as his first training session with Wolfsburg was on Thursday.
Kohfeldt has already made it clear that the challenge is very attractive to him. "There are not many reasons not to choose Wolfsburg," said the 39-year-old. That definitely includes having the opportunity to play in the Champions League with VfL. However, Wolfsburg are waiting for their first win after three games and are currently bottom of Group G.
Kohfeldt is missing one or two key players at the moment. The absence of midfield dynamo Xaver Schlager is a serious blow. The dip in performance at VfL almost exactly coincided with the point in time where the Austrian tore his cruciate – definitely a factor as Schlager and Maximilian Arnold were a formidable duo in midfield. Striker Wout Weghorst, who scored at least 16 goals in each of the last three seasons, is currently sidelined after testing positive for coronavirus.
Other players are also out of action. Left-back Jerome Roussillon, also an automatic first choice, is out with a calf injury. The talented young striker Bartosz Bialek (torn cruciate) is out for a long time and right-back William is not yet fully fit after exactly the same injury. The forward Admir Mehmedi, who played for the Werkself in 2015 to 2018, will probably be unavailable for the return to his old stamping ground as the Switzerland international is struggling with muscular problems. New signing Luca Waldschmidt is also not yet fit again after a thigh injury so the Germany international is also sidelined.
With Schlager, Wolfsburg have one of the best defences in the whole of the Bundesliga – and even without the Austrian the quality of VfL in these positions is remarkable. The central defence of John Anthony Brooks and Maxence Lacroix is of the highest level and particularly outstanding in the air. Midfield maestro Arnold is supported in defensive duties by enforcer Joshua Guilavogui, the agile Yannick Gerhardt and the top Belgian talent Aster Vranckx. And Wolfsburg can rely on Koen Casteels in goal as he is amongst the best keepers in the league. No wonder this defence has conceded the third-least shots on goal of all the sides in the Bundesliga.
In recent weeks it has been particularly evident that previous strengths of Wolfsburg have been missing. In his introductory press conference, Kohfeldt talked about the big strength of VfL being "in the dynamic approach off the ball," but also that this strength has been somewhat missing in recent weeks. Wolfsburg often arrive a second too late, have committed the second most fouls in the league and picked up the most yellow cards. And their heading ability, a trademark of the team last term, has not been seen recently. Although VfL have made the second highest number of crosses in the league, the Green and Whites are the only Bundesliga team yet to score a headed goal – and that in spite of towering players like Weghorst, Brooks and Lacroix.
Kohfeldt is taking charge of a team currently hit by several injury problems but one that has very high quality. If he can restore confidence to the VfL players then Wolfsburg should soon get back on track and aim for the top. It is possible that the new coach may need some time to implement his style of play given the packed fixture list. But the partnership of Kohfeldt/Wolfsburg could work – and the club could win out in the race for international spots at the end of the season.
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