VfL Wolfsburg are back in the race in the Champions League. But the 2:1 against RB Salzburg also showed that it is still too early for euphoria in the Lower Saxons.
The fans celebrated exuberantly, players like Maximilian Arnold and Paulo Otavio brought their children onto the pitch. In the stadium, where not two weeks before “We want to see you fight” was still being shouted from the stands, a family party took place on Tuesday evening. “Oh, how nice it is,” cheered the fans, who had become fond of their team again in no time at all. The key to the quickly restored harmony can already no longer be seen in the party moments. Florian Kohfeldt retreated to the catacombs of the Volkswagen Arena, filled with 16,112 spectators, after his first game in the Champions League. “This is a victory for the team, I don’t want to put myself in the foreground. “
Three basics are back
A team, however, that he seems to have put back on track in just a few days. With, first of all, simple things like intensity, passion, willingness to fight. Basics that were lost under predecessor Mark van Bommel. But they are the prerequisite for continued success in the coming weeks. The game against RB Salzburg (2:1) showed that VfL still has a lot to live up to in terms of football this season. This is also recognised by Kohfeldt, the analytical and eloquent expert who succeeds in appropriately presenting the good and not so good aspects of his team’s play. He makes it clear: it is still too early for euphoria in Wolfsburg.
“We should not lie to ourselves,” the coach demands a clear view of what is happening. He has stabilised the defence for now by changing the basic formation and moving to a three-man or five-man backline, but the game going forward still has many points for improvement. “The fundamental way we played with the ball could still be improved,” said Kohfeldt, putting his finger in the wound, only to follow it up with something positive: “Intensity, passion and defending were very good – we can build on this.
A start has been made, the victories in the league against Leverkusen (2:0) and the first success in the top flight are helping Kohfeldt to convince the team of his plans. They seem far less dogmatic than those of van Bommel’s predecessor, who put possession of the ball at the forefront of his ultimately brief time at VfL. Is it a coincidence that Wolfsburg now had far less of the ball than their opponents in both Leverkusen (34:66 per cent) and against Salzburg (42:58)? Or is it part of the Kohfeldt idea? “A bit of both,” says the coach, who has diagnosed his team’s problems with the ball in their own ranks. Inaccuracies in the staggering on the pitch, lack of clarity in how the players should move. “We don’t have that final certainty yet to play our way out of a pressing situation with a high probability.” Things that have actually been on the training schedule since the summer.
The VfL of the future, that is the unchanged intention, is to be rich in variation. Pressing, counter-pressing and switching football on the one hand, dominance and clarity in possession on the other. “I believe,” says Kohfeldt, “that in the long run we should be able to handle both. Depending on what the opponent requires as well.” One thing, the 39-year-old emphasises, he always wants to see in any case: “Everything we do, we should do with pace. Even when we have possession of the ball, we should always be looking for tempo actions.” In a hurry, Florian Kohfeldt has at least already managed to turn the mood around. In the stands and in the team.