Remember Saturday 23rd May 2009? VfL Wolfsburg fans remember this day very fondly. 30,000 of them were packed inside the Volkswagen Arena to see their team thrash Werder Bremen 5-1 to win the club’s first ever Bundesliga title. Josué was showered in green confetti as he lifted the shield high above his head, accompanied by the roars of his team’s success-starved supporters.
Manager Felix Magath was largely responsible for this shock triumph; using players like Dzeko, Grafite, Dejagah and Misimovic to play an attacking style of football that took Germany’s top division by storm. This was undoubtedly the greatest day in VfL Wolfsburg’s history.
However the energetic celebrations and free-flowing football are nothing more than memories by now, and the events of last Saturday highlight how far the Saxon club have fallen. This weekend saw Die Wölfe slip into the relegation zone after FC Nürnberg starlet Mehmet Ekici orchestrated a 2-1 win for his side against Wolfsburg. The crowd at the Volkswagen Arena were left contemplating the possibility of relegation from the Bundesliga less than two years after winning the league title. One win in their last seven league games suggests that this unthinkable possibility could very well become a reality.
A quick glance at the train-crash that has been Wolfsburg’s post-championship history will show that far from being a confusing surprise, this plummet from greatness was inevitable.
Following the 2008-09 success Felix Magath decided to leave Wolfsburg, heading to Schalke 04. The club appointed assistant Armin Veh as Magath’s replacement. The new manager had enormous boots to fill, and despite managing to hold onto highly-rated Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, he had trouble filling those old boots.
The first half of the 2009-10 season saw Wolfsburg make a disappointing start. I was in the stands for their 25th October match at the Olympic Stadium against Hertha BCS. Hertha had only managed one win by this stage of the season and were rock bottom of the Bundesliga. However Wolfsburg never threatened Drobny’s goal and in truth looked second best against the Berliners, only managing a 0-0 draw. This was a fair reflection of their performances in the first half of the season; slow, insipid and lacking the excitement of the previous term. The writing was on the wall and three months later Veh was shown the door with his team in mid-table and eliminated from the Champions’ League.
Lorenz-Günther Köstner steered Wolfsburg to an underwhelming 8th in the Bundesliga, five points off the European spots.
However fans had cause for optimism in the summer when Steve McLaren, who’d just led FC Twente to the Eredivisie title, was made Wolfsburg manager. For the second season in a row Wolfsburg managed to keep hold of striker Dzeko and also added to their squad with Brazilian midfielder Diego. The fans were hoping McLaren would transform Wolfsburg as he had Twente. Unfortunately his effect on the former German champions was more similar to his effect on the English national side.
McLaren lost his first three games, including a humiliating 4-3 defeat against Mainz, despite leading 3-0 after half an hour. Wolfsburg never found a winning rhythm under McLaren, drawing far too many games.
On the 23rd December the Englishman was given a vote of confidence by the board but it was at this point that things took a dramatic turn for the worst.
After swimming against the current for three transfer windows Edin Dzeko was finally sold. VfL Wolfsburg’s record league goal-scorer was sold in January to English club Manchester City. This was a hammer-blow for the club who now lacked a consistent scorer.
The Wolfsburg board had seen enough when a bizarre penalty incident cost the team a point against Hannover in February. Midfielder Diego had been floored by a late Hannover challenge and the referee pointed to the spot. Regular penalty taker Helmes tried to get the ball for the spot-kick, but found stern opposition in the form of Diego who was intent on taking the penalty himself. McLaren instructed Diego from the touchline that he was to allow Helmes to take the kick yet in a staggering challenge to McLaren’s authority the Brazilian refused to listen and prepared to shoot. Inevitably the penalty cannoned off the crossbar and with that miss McLaren’s Bundesliga career was finished; he was sacked on the 7th February.
Since then Wolfsburg have struggled to find a replacement, with coaches such as Basel’s Thorsten Fink choosing to stay at his post rather than take charge of the sinking ship. In the meantime Pierre Littbarski has had trouble raising confidence, with the team only registering one victory since McLaren’s departure.
Wolfsburg’s collapse beggars belief. The club sits second from bottom in the Bundesliga seemingly incapable of performing coherently. Without their talismanic Bosnian diamond and still without a permanent first team coach, their prospects look dim. Managerial instability has taken its toll on the squad and it now looks increasingly unlikely that VfL Wolfsburg will manage to rescue themselves. Two years ago this kind of situation seemed unimaginable, but for fans the impossible could soon become a reality.
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