Football Season Guide

Wolfsburg survived through the relegation playoff for the second year in a row last term, and they will be among the teams in danger to go down this season. The club has fallen a long way since winning the cup just three seasons ago and even with a squad packed with talent, there has not been the unity and leadership needed to see the club consolidate their position in the league. Despite winning just two of the eleven games he had at the helm last season, Bruno Labbadia is still in charge at the beginning of this term, though a slow start could well see him removed. Over the summer Labbadia has looked to add more attacking options with a brand new front pair brought in. Daniel Ginczek has plenty of experience in the Bundesliga with Nünberg and Stuttgart, but is almost constantly injured and has picked up major injuries in each of the last five seasons. Over the last three seasons he has missed a total of 44 games through injury. Fellow new signing Wout Weghorst has performed well in the Dutch Eredivisie scoring more than 10 goals in his last three seasons. However, he is unproven in Germany. The pressure will certainly be on that pair to fire the goals needed to keep the team away from danger. But seemingly every year Wolfsburg invest heavily in the transfer market without making much progress. On paper the squad is filled with talent in almost every position and players who have proven themselves in the Bundesliga with other clubs. But that has rarely translated into good performances for Wolfsburg. It is therefore even more puzzling that a consistently strong player such as Daniel Didavi has been sold over the summer having scored a quarter of the team’s goals last season. Should Labaddia’s side find some form early in the season they could be in line for a solid mid table finish. What has really cost the club over the last few years has been constant managerial changes with the directors quick to step in and bring in a new manager. With the current coach they may well have reason to do so, but it will nevertheless damage the team and it could be another long campaign for fans of ‘Die Wölfe’