Wolfsburg under Kovac’s motto “youth forward”

The opening game of the season always gives a lot of hints about the goals for the season. Especially if a new coach has taken over the reins, as is the case with Wolfsburg.

Wolfsburg’s opening game against Bremen didn’t go well. Against a club that returned to the top flight after a year, they only managed a 2-2 draw.

Wolfsburg went into the game with a starting line-up whose average age was just 23.8 years. The 28-year-old captain Maximilian Arnold was therefore easily the most experienced player in the field.

In spite of the result, some of Wolfsburg’s newcomers or returnees from the away team gave a good performance. Wimmer was a threat to the Bremen defence, while Marmoush on the other wing was the main driving force up front.

Some positions could do with strengthening to meet the club’s highest ambitions, but Wolfsburg have young talent even in their relatively wide squad. For example, they have nurtured 19-year-old, highly-rated Belgian midfielder Aster Vranckx into a defensively soft midfield in the opening encounter.

They can refresh their already promising looking attack, consisting of players like Brekalo and Nmecha, with more Benjamins in Kaminski or the still only 23-year-old Jonas Wind.

Wolfsburg, moreover, are among the richest clubs in the German Bundesliga, have a sound name and are a historically successful club with ambition. There is therefore no reason why, should they achieve sporting success, Wolfsburg should sell off their young and talented squad at the first opportunity.

The Bundesliga needs its richest clubs not to worry and many fans are now pinning their hopes on Niko Kovac to turn his young side into a similarly successful team, as he has done with Frankfurt before.

Source: Bundesliga