A Fallen Light - VfL Wolfsburg

[dreamofasgard]

Hey there, dreamofasgard here.
Today i'm starting a new career with VfL Wolfsburg and I really like to read the stories. So I asked myself why I didn't make one of these. So I am on a journey with VfL Wolfsburg.

There is a nickname on the header, I want to start there.

A Fallen Light.
In 2008, actually there was no one who thought the winner of Bundesliga was going to be Wolfsburg that year. There was a giant whose name is Bayern Munich. Van Bommel, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Klose, Ze Roberto and more. Of course they were gonna dominate the league but literally - of course I am exaggerating it - two strikers changed too many things. Edin Dzeko and Grafiti. They just did it and that was wonderful for many people. Now, enough with stories. Since 2009, they are falling and falling. One DFB-Pokal against Dortmund and one Super Cup against Bayern. 2 cups in 12 years after these days. I want to stop that falling and make that light rise again. That light will be so bright that no one will be able to see anything except it. Lets get into it.

For the current season, the board expects me to get qualified for the Euro Cup in the league. That's of course my first priority.

Team Report

In the team report I see that I have a weakness about squad depth, goalkeeper one-on-ones and scoring with header. There is 10m Euros in budget so of course i wont get best players but the team players for rotation.

Tactic

I have 2 methods for creating a tactic:
1-) Stuck on a system and buy players which can play with it.
2-) Analyze the players and create a tactic which fits them.

I want to go with the first one on that because I just like that. Maybe it wont work for this or next season but after i buy the required players for each position i will watch the game which i enjoy.

I want to dominate the game at least 60 % and creating chances with passing and passing. So i will go with Tiki-Taka but not that much vertical and not with 600 700 passes. Fast, quick passes and getting into box with at least 3 4 players. So it kinda looks like that:

I want my Shadow Striker to shoot more often and i want my BBM to dribble more with direct passes. In matches, it should seems like some players come near to get passes and use shorter passes while others run wide and play directly. I believe this will create lots of empty areas behind defenders.

Lets look fastly to this season.

The Schedule:

The Competitions:

And The Finance:

I hope you liked the start of my first story. Im kinda excited while im making it so, lets see where its going to go.

 

[dreamofasgard]

August

Paulo Otavio, attacking left-back was already on listed when i came. So some loan offers came and i accepted all for not to pay his wage all year and i want to see if he improves himself or play good in the team he will go and i can sell him with more price.

At the same time i made a loan offer to Gagliardini because he has 17 Work Rate, 19 Teamwork, 17 Tackling, 16 Strength and 14 Passing. Passing is not too good but he will be great BWM in my team, i hope. He was on sale for 11.5m Euros but i wanted to give him a try first.

Recruitment Meeting with Board

They think i need SS, IF, GK and a CD.I looked for the players they suggest but none of them are right fit for that position and after i see my squad i dont think i need more transfers for this transfer window.

First game of career - Friendly Game at SC Paderborn 07

Team Selection for this game will be this

I hope Gagliardini won't be disappointment for me this season.

Paderborn have some quick players as we know and probably they will try 4-4-2 counter attack on us. So we are the better team and this is a friendly game so lets see.

Result

2-1 Win against Paderborn. Not the expected stats but new tactic, away game and first game. This team will be better. As i expected to play that style, all of our shots inside box and most of these was dangerous.

We had the ball more but I expect more.

Second Friendly Game at SV Sandhausen

Next friendly game will be at SV Sandhausen. We didn't know much about them so i sent a chief scout to get me a scout report. I found out that Sandhausen is really bad at passing game. They play 4-1-4-1 and probably Arnold and Gagliardini will dominate the midfield.

I mean look at these guys

How they cant dominate any midfield...

Result

We played a great first half on the defending side.

Only 0.04 xG on their side and no shots on target. And look at the points our attacking players get. Team getting used to the tactic.

Full result is 1-0 win and great goalkeeper performance for Sandhausen and we need to improve scoring side of ours.

Euro Cup Second Qualifying Round draws was today and we get MSK Zilina from Slovakia on September 17th.

Third Friendly Game at home with West Bromwich Albion

Last game of August is West Brom. Better team to play friendly and we will see our bad sides and mistakes more in that game. We played 2 games in 5 days and I don't want any injuries so today's squad will be a little rotation.

Things went well and bad at the same time on first half.
Scored one. Klaus and Brekalo injured. Stats are great.

Full Time

And the stats are

After game i found out that Klaus will be injured for a month and Brekalo for 2 days. I think this is not that bad.

We played 3 friendly game in August and won all with beautiful football.
We loaned 1 player and loaned out 1 player.
We are ready for the season.

 

[dreamofasgard]

September - The Season Starts

Starting the season with DFB-Pokal game against Oberneuland

DFB-Pokal First Round

6’ Great performance by Mbabu. Nice 5 passes between Mbabu and Gagliardini on right wing. Crossed inside and penalty.Philipp scored. 1-0

16’ Fast and direct passes on midfield and left wing. Brekalo passed to Philipp outside the box and Philipp scored 25 meters banger. 2-0

25’ Freekick on nearly left corner flag. Arnold with a nice curved cross. Great header by Brooks. 3-0

32’ Incredible passing from defenders to strikers with 38 passes under 1.5 mins.Philipp with a great through pass. Brekalo scored with chip shot. 4-0

End of Half Time

Incredible performance.

Two crossbars ,too many shots and no goal in the second half.

First European Game - EURO Cup Second Q. against Zilina

I will play with my rotation players because Zilina probably can't even win against my rotation squad and I have a Bundesliga game 3 days later.

First Half

16’ William, the right back, dribbled his opponent and Zilina defender fouled inside box, penalty given. Ginczek scored the penalty. 1-0

31’ Brekalo with a nice cross to the far post. Header from Ginczek. 2-0



Second Half

92’ Freekick given on right wing. William crossed to the penalty spot. Pongragic with a great header. 3-0

Great away win with 3-0 on the first European game.

In the Third Qualifying Round we will play with Vojvodina and the winner of this game will play with the winner of the Milan-Desna game in the Fourth Qualifying Round. Tough game before groups.

First Bundesliga game at home with Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Maximilian Philipp injured before the game, he is out for 3 weeks.

Leverkusen plays 4-3-3 Tiki Taka due to reports, so it's gonna be a dominance war between us.
Team Selection

First Half

15’ Steffan injured. William in.

32’ Arias crossed after dribble Roussilion. Patrik Schick shot near post and scored 0-1

Second Half

51’ Malli injured. Mehmedi in.

65’ Incredible run from William. He ran from left back to the box with dribble past 3 players and shot very clear and fast. 1-1

Full Time 1-1

2 injuries, 2 crossbars and ‘Unlucky boys , that was not our night.’ .

Steffen out for 4 weeks. Malli out for 2 days. William out for 2 days.

Euro Cup Third Q. at home with Vojvodina

First Half

45’ Ended with 70% possessions, 10 shots and 1 xG. Playing with full rotation expecting 1 or 2 goals in the second half.

Second Half

70’ Subbed in 4 of first team players.

83’ With a great through pass from Arnold, Brekalo and Gerhardt get the ball 2v1 with goalkeeper. Gerhardt passed Brekalo and scored. 1-0

Full Time 1-0

As expected we will play with Milan next round.

Last game of September - Bundesliga game at Freiburg

First Half

1’ Fast counter attack from Freiburg. Demirovic with a through pass to Petersen and scored. 0-1

24’ Arnold wins the ball on midfield. Pass through William. Great save from Müller.

28’ Cross from William. Header from Gerhardt. Off the post.

Second Half

56’ Counter attack from Wolfsburg. William is 1v1 with Müller. Müller saved, corner kick.

Full Time 0-1

Couldn't get the possession away game. One more unlucky point loss. Team didn't play good. Maybe some changes needed.

Bad start to the league but i had 2 injured essential players, not an excuse but that was important to me as i saw last game.

I need a feedback about telling the career stroy from you guys. Is it better if i continue like this post or is it better if i summarize more?

 

[dreamofasgard]

October Fixtures

Starting with the Milan game. I saw some bad plays last game so I changed my tactic. I will play higher tempo and with overlapping left and right. Lets see what's gonna change.

Fourth Qualifying at home with Milan

First Half

7’ Pongracic passed 50 meters behind the Milan defenders to Weghorst. Donnarumma ran outside of the box, Weghorst dribbled past and scored. 1-0

11’ Corner kick taken by William to the far post. Weghorst scored with header. 2-0

31’ Freekick taken by Calhanoglu to the penalty spot. Kjaer scored with a half-volley. 2-1

39’ Freekick taken by Malli to the far post Pongracic passed the ball with header. Arnold scored but VAR disallowed the goal because of offside.

43’ Mbabu injured. Baku in.

Second Half

58’ William injured. Klaus in.

87’ Mehmedi dribbled to the box and a bad tackle from Milan defender. Penalty given. Weghorst came for hat-trick. And scored! 3-1


Full Game 3-1

We played more directly and in a high tempo game. It seems like team play that way really good.

Mbabu is out for 3 weeks. Big loss for team.

Group stage draw was bad for us. Tough opponents in the group.

Expecting to get at least one more stage in that competition.

3rd Bundesliga Game - at home with Augsburg

Tough game but we need to win that.
Gagliardini and Arnold are tired because of the Milan game.
William, Steffen and Philipp are injured and they will be available next game.
Mbabu is injured and out for a month.
Without 6 good players, we need to win…

First Half

5’ Uduokhai crossed to the far post. Hahn scored with header. 0-1

11’ Wolfsburg answered quickly. Xaver won the ball on the midfield, passed it to Brekalo, Brekalo with incredible through pass and Malli scored. 1-1

Second Half

48’ Gruezo with bad tackle and second yellow card. Augsburg now has left with 10 players.

59’ Freekick given. Arnold shot directly to the goal from 30 meters away. He scored! 2-1

Full Time 2-1

First win of the season without 6 first team players.
2 wins in a row with direct football. We are gonna rise!



The October fixture changed because of Euro Cup games.

4rd Bundesliga Game - at Borussia Mönchengladbach

Steffen, Arnold, Gagliardini and Philipp returned. We need to win that game and start a cool streak.

First Half

7’ Great through pass from Neuhaus to Thuram. 0-1

10’ Wolfsburg answered quickly again. Nice steal from Arnold, passed in front of William on the left wing. William dribbled inside and passed Weghorst. Weghorst scored 1-1.

29’ Freekick given. William crossed to the far post. Guilavogui scored with header. 2-1

Second Half

47’ Roussilion crossed the ball to the far post. Pongracic jumped for it but defender pushed him and penalty given. Weghorst came for second goal. Missed it.

54’ Freekick given. Arnold shot directly to the goal from 25 meters. He scored again! 3-1

Full Time 3-1

We are going top game by game. Arnold is incredible. Play tiki-taka or directly passing game. Nothing changes for him. He steals, he creates and he finishes.

Euro Cup First Group Game - at home with Tottenham

Even this is a home game, its Tottenham and Mourinho on the opposite side. I don't expect winning but hoping for a draw at home and away with Tottenham.

First Half

3’ There is a push on Bale by Roussillion. Penalty given. Kane scored. 0-1

22’ Arnold stole the ball from Bale on midfield. Passed directly to Philipp, Philipp and Brekalo made 6 pass between each other and Philipp passed outside of the box to Steffen. Steffen shot from
25 meters away and scored! 1-1

38’ Arnold crossed the ball. Weghorst scored with a header. But VAR disallowed the goal because of an offside.

Second Half

66’ Weghorst with a through pass to the winger Steffen. Steffen dribbled inside. Shot! Goal! 2-1 Wolfsburg takes the lead.

Full Time 2-1

Incredible effort, incredible game and amazing result.


5th Bundesliga Game - at home with Arminia Bielefeld

It's a home game and for me, we need to win nearly all home games. That's our home. And if we win 3-1-1 will be clearly a good start for us.

First Half

29’ Good dribble by Cordova, nice cross and Klos scored. 0-1

Second Half

51’ Roussilion crossed to the near post. Werghorst with a header but keeper saved it. Arnold stole the ball on midfield, passed Roussilion, he crossed again, Philipp shot the near post and scored 1-1

68’ Game started from Casteels with goalkick. He played short. Brooks passed Mehmedi he dribbled to right wing. Roussilion ran to the space on left wing. Mehmedi stopped and passed to Roussilion. Roussilion with incredible through pass. Ginczek shot and scored 2-1 Wolfsburg comebakc again

93’ Counter attack by Wolfsburg. Baku with through pass, Philipp shot and scored 3-1

Full Time 3-1

The problem is that we concede goals too fast and the first shot of the opposing team is a goal. We cameback last 3 4 games.

And the league table after 5 games

We are in the Champions League race right now and same point with Bayern. We did good for now.




Last game of October
Euro Cup Second Group Game - at home with Omonoia

First Half

13’ With a beautiful cross from Brekalo, Weghorst passed to Philipp with header and Philipp shot from far post and scored. 1-0

16’ Roussilion made long through pass behind defenders and Philipp scored on one on one opportunity 2-0

Full Time 2-0

Nice win to get against a weak opponent. Group table seems good for us

 

[dreamofasgard]

Lets move faster and summarize more next few weeks.

STEP By STEP We Rise

6th Bundesliga Game - at Hertha BSC

Great performance by Weghorst and Casteels in a fifty-fifty game.

Our goalkeeper saved every chance and the striker scored every chance.

This team makes me think about getting the title in the first season.

Euro Cup Third Group Game - at Real Sociedad ( Real San Sebastian )

We didn't play well but they scored 2 goals with penalties. We could get a draw but made too many mistakes.

7th Bundesliga Game - at home with Hoffenheim

We played really nice and we have a 6 win streak now in Bundesliga.

At home we dominate the games but at away games we play a little bad as usual.

8th Bundesliga Game - at Schalke 04

One more game which Weghorst took us to win with 2 goals.

We imaginated about 2008-09 season and Grafite, it's still early season but seems like his spirit came back.

Euro Cup Fourth Group Game - at home with Real Sociedad

Incredible performance on attack and so poor on defence.

In 79. minute it was 3-1 and we conceded 2 goals in 3 minutes.

But Brekalo scored in 88. minute and won this tough game.

9th Bundesliga Game - at home with SV Werder

No mistake made at home. We are playing really well at home. Werder never had an opportunity to take good shots.

Euro Cup Fifth Group Game - at Tottenham

Nice effort but it’s Spurs anyway and it's an away game.

Euro Cup table before last round of Group Stage

We will play with Omonoia in the last round and probably win easily and Tottenham will be eliminated.

10th Bundesliga Game - at 1. FC Köln

We didn't play well one more time in an away game but the effort of Gagliardini and Philipp brought us the game.

I want to say before forgetting, Casteels plays incredible every game. Every game he gets at least 7.4 points.

After 10th game of Bundesliga let's look into tables

We are one point below the leader and we are taking reliable steps towards becoming a champion.



Overall Competitions Tab

 

[dreamofasgard]

End of 2020 and Big Games

On scout reports which board told me to analyze, i saw Denis Vavro the 24-years old powerful centre-back is listed for 3.2m Euros.

Without Pace and Positioning, he seems like a good and young defender. Of course we have Pongracic, Bruma and Guilavogui but Bruma and Guilavogui are in their 30s and we can make profit in future. So i offered him.

Euro Cup Sixth Group Game - at Omonoia

Expected result from us and we qualified to next round.

11th Bundesliga Game - at home with Eintracht Frankfurt

We missed so many chances and a penalty and Frankfurt missed 2 one on one positions. My goalkeeper is on his best form right now. One more win and we are fighting for the top. Next game Bayern Munich away.

Euro Cup First Knockout Round Draw

Villarreal is 12th in the league right now and they have only 1 win on their last 4 games.

Big Game

12th Bundesliga Game - at Bayern Munich

First Half

6’ Goretzka stole the ball on midfield and a Bayern counter started. Goretzka to left winger Gnabry. Gnabry dribbled to the box and incredible defending from Pongracic. He stole the ball and its Wolfsburg counter now. Pongracic to Arnold. Arnold dribbled and a through pass to Brekalo. Brekalo shot! Incredible save from Neuer.

11’ Xaver tried a long ball behind the Bayern defenders but couldn't make it. Gnabry took the ball and started a counter again. Gnabry couldn't find a teammate to pass and dribbled to the box again but 3 Wolfsburg players closed the angle for Gnabry and it’s goal kick.

19’ Corner taken by William. Bayern defenders kicked the ball away. Pongracic took it and passed the ball back but Sane intercepted it and through pass to Lewandowski. Lewandowski shot and scored. 0-1

45’ First Half 1-0

Second Half

55’ Arnold stole the ball on midfield passed directly to Xaver. Xaver to Brekalo. Brekalo shot. One more incredible save from Neuer.

82’ Casteels saw the empty area and sent a long ball. Weghortz passed with a header. It's 2 on 1 now. Joao Victor passed through Mehmedi. Mehmedi shot so badly. Its goal kick.

Full Time 0-1

We had the opportunities but they have an incredible goalkeeper. Very weak midfield performance from Xaver and Arnold. Gagliardini was injured for 2 days before this game. We only lost Bayern away with 1-0. Draw would be great but it's Bayern anyway.

13th Bundesliga Game - at home with VfB Stuttgart

Stuttgart was 3rd place before that game. We played better in a boring game and won. I mean, big teams must win even if they play bad. That's how to be champions.



DFB-Pokal Second Round at home with RB Leipzig

Incredible game. Unforgettable memories. Game ended 1-1 and in 121. minute, Philipp scored a banger. That. Was. Amazing. We are going for next round.

14th Bundesliga Game - at Borussia Dortmund

Arnold and Gagliardini are suspended for this game. Bruma and Ginczek are injured.Our new transfer Vavro on the bench today. We are weaker on midfield and rotations and it's an away game against the unbeaten top team of the league. My expectation is a draw.

Very poor performance. Couldn't stop Haaland and his hattrick but this performance was unacceptable.

League Table

Our performance so far

Attacking Performance

Defending Performance

We played with Bayern, Leipzig and Dortmund consecutively. Lost 6 points and some bad performances. But i hope we will get things right after this month.