Thursday 31 October 2019 09:15, UK
Wolfsburg have survived the drop for a second season in a row after beating Holstein Kiel in a relegation play-off. With former stars like Kevin De Bruyne and Edin Dzeko flourishing elsewhere, what is next for the club?
What a difference 10 years can make. Wolfsburg know only too well how fortunes can change from one season to the next, with their trophy success and Champions League participation overshadowed by recent battles against relegation.
They had a tough 2017/18 campaign, finishing in 16th place - just two points ahead of the automatic relegation places - and faced Bundesliga 2 side Holstein Kiel in a play-off that they won 4-1 on aggregate to secure their spot in the top flight next term.
But despite their recent struggles, Wolfsburg will feel they deserve their place among Germany's elite. They are one of three sides to have won the Bundesliga in the last decade alongside Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
They have also had some world-class names in the white and green shirt, including recent Premier League winner De Bruyne, World Cup winners Andrea Barzagli, Andre Schurrle and Julian Draxler plus Roma striker Dzeko - who featured in the Champions League semi-finals this season - to name just a few.
But Sky Germany's Jurek Rohrberg pinpoints the departure of Wolfsburg's big stars as a reason for their decline, and a lack of players to truly replace them.
"Wolfsburg has a lot of trouble over the last few years," Rohrberg said. "The turning point was the loss in Madrid during the 2015/16 Champions League. After that, the team didn't develop.
"Another problem that Wolfsburg have is they are used as a springboard. After one good season, the best players like De Bruyne for example leave the club very quickly so you can't create a stable team.
"This year, Wolfsburg had a young team without big stars, but the mix isn't homogeneous. They don't have real leaders and of course, they miss a real striker like Mario Gomez was."
This time nine years ago, Wolfsburg were celebrating their first league win. Felix Magath - one time manager of Fulham - guided them to the title with the longest winning streak in the Bundesliga at the time, and secured their first ever appearance in the Champions League. His team included Brazilian striker Grafite and Dzeko, who scored 28 and 26 goals respectively that season, plus defender Barzagli.
But they would not be able to match the same heights over the next few years - which included a spell from Steve McClaren as manager - but surged back into form in the 2014/15 campaign, which coincided with the February arrival of Schurrle from Chelsea for a then club-record fee. Players including De Bruyne, Bas Dost, Naldo and Ricardo Rodriguez were already at the club.
Former Fortuna Dusseldorf and Cologne striker Klaus Allofs was also two years into his tenure as sporting director, which Rohrberg credits with their improvement, saying: "The bounce from Klaus Allofs was a big shift for the whole club. Allofs had a big experience, good view for talented guys and he had good connection all over the world."
They ended that campaign as Bundesliga runners-up, won their first domestic cup competition when they beat Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal and qualified once again for the Champions League.
After being voted as 2014/15 player of the season, De Bruyne was sold to Manchester City in the summer but they did not seem to instantly suffer without him, beating Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup at the start of August. They had a fairly successful Bundesliga campaign - finishing in eighth - and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League before being knocked out by Real Madrid, which is where Rohrberg says the recent problems began.
The 2016/17 season saw them finish in 16th place on 37 points. Wolfsburg went through three managers as the club struggled to keep their heads above water, with Dieter Hecking, Valerien Ismael and Andries Jonker all having spells at the helm. It was the latter who lead the club into their first relegation play-off against Eintracht Braunschweig, winning 2-0 on aggregate to keep themselves in the Bundesliga by the skin of their teeth.
But lessons were not learnt as they endured another season of struggles. Multiple managers were once again the name of the game as Jonker was dismissed in September, being replaced by Martin Schmidt, who himself lasted six months before the arrival of current boss Bruno Labbadia.
Now that their Bundesliga status is secure - for another year at least - will Wolfsburg heed the warnings from the last two campaigns? Sky Germany's Rohrberg believes the club need an overhaul both on and off the field.
"First of all, the club has to build a structure behind the team," he added. "After the bounce from Olaf Rebbe - now sporting director at Huddersfield Town - there was only Labbadia as the head coach, but I'm not sure if he will stay in Wolfsburg.
"Wolfsburg don't have enough know-how on football business. Maybe they will install Jorg Schmadtke [as sporting director], who last year worked for Cologne, which would be the first step.
"In my opinion, Wolfsburg has to create a new team with a young and offensive strategy. The last few years, they have had a random team.
"But the most important thing is to have continuity on the position as a coach. Last season, they had three changes so you got a disturbance."
While the dust settles on another relegation battle, Wolfsburg will begin the evaluation on their disappointing season. Only time will tell if they can make the necessary steps to once again challenge in the right ways.
