Wolfsburg Better Be Ready For a Drought

By Aditya Balaram
12 years Ago

The summer transfer window saw Felix Magath strengthen his Wolfsburg side with a wide variety of players that included the likes of Naldo, Bas Dost, Ivica Olic and Fagner. Magath was clearly keen to bolster every department of his side, also knowing that the replacement of big names such as Mario Mandzukic and Ashkan Dejagah was going to be a tough task.

An altercation with the returning Diego and long injury lay-offs to Patrick Helmes and Vaclav Pilar assisted greatly in what was to prove to be two hellish months for the club. After an extremely lucky victory over Stuttgart on the opening day, Wolfsburg went on a seven match winless streak that included uninspiring draws against Augsburg and Greuther FA?rth.

Magath was finally fired on the 25th of October, leaving the club without a coach, sporting director and at the bottom of the table. Lorenz-GA?nther KAi??stner was once again called upon as interim manager, the last time this happened was in 2010, and remarkably changed things at the Volkswagen Arena.

Under KAi??stner, Diego was given a role with far greater freedom than under the dictatorial Magath. This removal of the leash off the Brazilianai??i??s neck has allowed him to pull strings and feed the lethal Bas Dost with just the regularity fans had expected. Josue and Jan Polak were made mainstays in defensive midfield and have proven to be the dogfighters that the so side desperately needed.

Unfortunately for KAi??stner and Wolfsburg, defensive stability and solidarity havenai??i??t been present. After KAi??stner took charge, Wolfsburg have conceded in every single game in the Bundesliga. They currently have the seventh worst defensive record along with Eintracht Frankfurt.

So with things not as fine and dandy as fans would have liked, the board decided that a full-time replacement was necessary at the top and recently hired Nurembergai??i??s Dieter Hecking. Looking at how Heckingai??i??s season has gone so far, this comes as a bit of a surprise, especially when Bernd Schuster was also in the running for the managerial post.

Looking at the way Heckingai??i??s season has gone with Nuremberg so far, some people might see him as a fine choice. He has built a very solid defensive unit, and done so with very limited resources. He has transformed Timm Klose into one of the best defenders in Germany, and did the same with Philipp Wollscheid over the past few years. In fact, Heckingai??i??s Nuremberg has always fared in the top half of the best defensive records and have conceded just 22 goals in 17 games this season, the sixth best in the Bundesliga.

So it finally seems that Wolfsburgai??i??s shaky defense might get the right man to push them onto the right path. But a look at Dieter Heckingai??i??s attacking methods and results will be a cause of great worry at Wolfsburg. Yes, Diego, Olic and Dost seem a lethal combination. But so did Esswein, Mak and Kiyotake at Nuremberg.

With Hecking at the helm, Nurembergai??i??s potentially exciting attacking unit seemed lost for ideas week in and week out. Even the wondrous Kiyotake was often seen cutting a frustrated figure at the AWD Arena. And this is an awful sign for Wolfsburg. Firstly, because this hints at a curtailment of the freedom that Diego will have. In turn, this will begin to limit the number of chances that Dost gets.

Secondly, Olic will begin to be used more as a workhorse than as a finisher. Yes, he does love to work his socks off but at thirty three and in an already hard working side, his usage as a defensive forward is not what is needed. The over emphasis on hard work might go well with Olic but it really does not seem to be the punch that Wolfsburg need.

The third and final worrying factor is that Hecking might prove to be a sharp thorn in the growth of three of their youngsters, Pilar, Dost and Rasmus JAi??nsson. At Nuremberg too, Hecking struggled to bring the best out of his attacking players.

With Nuremberg, Hecking failed to find one prolific goalscorer this season. This has led to the stagnation in the development of Polter and Esswein, both of whom are incredibly gifted attackers. Even the superb Kiyotake hasnai??i??t offered all that he is capable of.

The final step to shower Wolfsburg fans with worries is to bring statistics into the picture. To start with, Wolfsburg havenai??i??t been great when attacking. They have scored a miserly seventeen goals in seventeen games. Heckingai??i??s Nuremberg have managed just the same number and one must take into account that their attacking talents arenai??i??t as well known and highly rated as those of Wolfsburg.

Nuremberg have failed to get goals from their attacking players. Set pieces and long range wonders seem to be the way to go for Hecking. Out of the seventeen goals scored by Nuremberg, eight have come from deep lying players and just four from strikers. Given the lack of attacking prowess in Wolfsburgai??i??s midfield, fans better prepare themselves for a dry rA?ckrunde.

With Hecking in charge, relegation shouldnai??i??t be a worry for Wolfsburg but the best that they can achieve is a lower half finish. They will look a lot more assured defensively but a complete lack of innovation will characterize this period in Wolfsburgai??i??s history.

Categories: Features, German Bundesliga
Tags: Bundesliga wolfsburg

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