Parts of the public haven’t noticed yet, but at VfL Wolfsburg they have given the number nine shirt to Swede Amin Sarr. The nine have already had a few prominent striker names at VfL, including the really huge Edin Dzeko, the equally impressive Ivan Perisic and the always reliable Andrzej Juskowiak. This season, however, the number was rarely seen because it sat on the bench wrapped up under a training jacket or winter jacket. Sarr, who was loaned from Lyon before the season in what media reports described as an “expensive package”, played so rarely that he could be considered a kind of phantom in the Wolfsburg squad. And when he was allowed to have a quick look, the impression remained the same: Sarr couldn’t be seen after all.
On Saturday, the striker was not only spotted in the flesh at Bremen’s Weser Stadium, Wolfsburg’s number nine was even in the starting line-up – for the first time since Sarr started working for the factory club. From the point of view of the struggling VfL, that alone would have been a success story if there hadn’t been so many of them on this away trip that they could easily lose track of things: With the 2-0 win against SV Werder, Wolfsburg won their first game at all can win in the calendar year 2024, which is no longer so young; and because this victory conveniently coincided with new coach Ralph Hasenhüttl’s first game, this premiere also went according to his own expectations.
Sarr, who had been so unhappy so far, left a solid impression, but what was crucial was the message that came from his surprising appointment: as soon as a new coach takes over, hierarchies are rearranged, a new impartiality spreads in the dressing room and previously ignored players appear from obscurity.
Coaches sometimes use this popular sweeping strategy to provide a “new impulse,” as it is often called at regular football tables. Hasenhüttl, on the other hand, acted entirely without cabin populism, but rather with an objectivity that was notorious from his time in Leipzig. “I didn’t take any risks,” said the Austrian and immediately explained why: he primarily selected those players who had not been with their national teams in the past two weeks, but who had completed daily team training with VfL.
With the win, Wolfsburg gained a little breathing room from the relegation zone, which was dangerously close
This was important to Hasenhüttl because, as a result, world travelers have serious gaps in their knowledge. And he was consistent: In addition to Sarr, striker Kevin Behrens and defender Sebastiaan Bornauw, other players who had recently only been used sporadically were allowed to play; Established forces such as playmaker Lovro Majer and striker Jonas Wind remained outside for the time being. In any case, the detailed work in the training was worth it because the measure achieved the effect Hasenhüttl intended.
The tactical change processes on the pitch worked reasonably reliably; in the build-up to the game, Wolfsburg formed up with four defenders and a double six, and in defensive phases with a chain of three or five. This “plan against the ball” was a good one, the Wolfsburg players reported in unison; Captain Maximilian Arnold even remarked that this defense plan was more detailed than before. If you wanted, you could hear a little criticism of Hasenhüttl’s rotation-mad predecessor Niko Kovac. But maybe that would be a little mean. Because from the Croatian’s perspective, this game was so full of nastiness that it couldn’t have been worse.
First scored 1-0, then sent off with a red card: Wolfsburg’s Maxence Lacroix (left) had a varied day at work in Bremen.
(Photo: Cathrin Mueller/Getty Images)
During his painfully long farewell phase, Kovac repeatedly regretted his lack of luck; On Saturday, this mystical force celebrated an impressive comeback with the Wolfsburg team: First the Bremen striker Nick Woltemade missed a good chance to take the lead, then the Bremen defender Anthony Jung saw the red card because of a supposed emergency brake (42nd minute), even though a teammate had rushed along could possibly have intervened. In Kovac’s last game, a similar situation was decided the other way around to the detriment of the Werkself.
And that might have been the case with Wolfsburg’s 1-0 win by Maxence Lacroix, who had a clear shot after a corner because the Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer had previously been pressured by a VfL player. And when Lacroix himself later flew off the field because of an emergency brake, midfielder Arnold thought to himself: “Oh dear, now it’s starting again.” But the fears about the recent obligatory Wolfsburg break-in proved to be unfounded.
Hasenhüttl’s son Patrick also celebrated his debut – as his father’s assistant coach
Instead, substitute Lovro Majer scored after a counterattack to make it 2-0 by lofting the ball over goalkeeper Zetterer – it was a wonderful goal that also exemplified Hasenhüttl’s calculation: whoever has a bench like that, the coach explained At the same time I have a “huge pound in such a close game”; Due to the difficult circumstances, it wasn’t about “playing the beauty from heaven” anyway. The only thing that mattered to Wolfsburg was the three points that they achieved with great effort and tactical discipline – and through which they were able to gain a little breathing space from the relegation zone, which had recently moved dangerously close.
Sometimes what was presented was “far away” from what he ideally wanted to see, said Hasenhüttl, his voice still slightly cracking. However, his tone was less due to the overall impression of his first game as Wolfsburg coach, but rather due to the grueling time he found in England at FC Southampton. Hasenhüttl explained that he had damaged his vocal cords there, so he now had to be a little more careful.
However, his consistently impulsive appearance on the sidelines had little to do with a doctor-prescribed self-protective measure. If necessary, he can now continue to delegate the swearing and gesticulating with a clear conscience: The game in Bremen was also the debut for the new assistant coach Patrick Hasenhüttl, who recently ended his playing career at Halleschen FC. The son, that much can already be said, has already learned a lot from Papa Hasenhüttl.