Die Wölfe - A Wolfsburg Story

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Die Wölfe - A Wolfsburg Story

Today there was big news coming from the Volkswagen Arena, with Head Coach Dieter Hecking being replaced with immediate affect with unknown manager John Tomlinson being appointed as the club's new manager. This has recieved a mixed reaction from fans, with some confused by such an obscure name being chosen to lead the club. Others say they trust executive Francisco Garcia's decision.

When presented in front of the media, Tomlinson expressed his happiness at being awarded the job and spoke of his desire to take the club forward into the the top tier of European and World football, while also taking players through the clubs academy and playing a good style of football.


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[footy1]

The Squad


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Key Players
Kevin De Bruyne CAM	Luiz Gustavo CDM
Diego Benaglio GK	Naldo CB
Ricardo Rodriguez LB
First Team
Ivan Perisic LW	Vierinha RW
Ivica Olic ST	Josh Guilavogui CDM
Christian Trasch RB	Sebastian Jung RB
Rotation
Timm Klose CB	Daniel Caligiuri RW
Aaron Hunt CAM	Bas Dost ST
Backup
Max Grun GK	Nicklas Bendtner ST
Mateusz Klich CM	Maximillian Arnold CAM
Robin Knoche CB	Junior Malanda CDM

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[footy1]

Transfers

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First of all I'll focus on sales. We weren't planning on selling Ricardo Rodriguez but PSG came in with a great offer we couldn't refuse, giving us a big budget to go out and buy players. The only other departures were either loans out or nominal fees for players not looking likely to get a game.

In terms of arrivals, we made plenty of signings. The biggest of all is Paco Alcacer from Valencia for 15.25M, who for a club record fee should provide a great goalscoring outlet up front, a place where we were lacking with ageing Olic our best player.

Other arrivals included Winston Reid from West Ham for 5M who should strengthen our defence and give Naldo a capable partner at the back. Boilesen came in from Ajax to replace Rodriguez, with Fabricio also arriving as a more attacking option at left-back. We also made Josh Guilavogui's loan permanent due to being impressed with him.

Also coming in were a three young talents who should all develop into first team players. Bonilla is a very promising Colombian keeper who looks good for the future, but will go back on loan to his previous club in Brazil. Lulic looks like a good bet for centre midfield in five years time or so and will spend this year away on loan, while Gul also looks like a strong player in the making.

Tactics

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This is my starting tactic this year with our first eleven. The 4-2-3-1 is a formation I like and it seems to suit our players fairly well. Hopefully it can bring us a few points this year...

Next Up: August Review

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[footy1]

August

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We had just three competitive games this month with the season starting up. The first game was a fairly easy cup win over a side much smaller than ourselves. We then lost 3-0 to Hertha which was a bit of a shock and highlighted some of our weaknesses in defence, although they did score 2 from free-kicks. We then got our first points on the board against Hoffenheim with a 1-1 draw.


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So a poor start has left us in the bottom half, although we hope to start moving up the table sooner rather than later with new signings gelling and the team fully understanding the way I want to play.

Player of the Month: Kevin De Bruyne

Played well in all three games and scored a good goal to earn us a point at Hoffenheim.

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September

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Another fairly poor month for us in truth. Another disappointing defeat to Gladbach before a loss in the Europa League to Dynamo Kyiv. We then finally picked up our first league win against Frankfurt thanks to an Alcacer brace, before a close loss to a very strong Bayern and a draw with Mainz. An large improvement needed and I'm thinking of switching our tactics a bit.

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So we remain down in the bottom half, and the board aren't very pleased at our performances recently so an upturn is needed soon in our fortunes. Our performances seem to be improving though which is a good sign.

Player of the Month: Sebastian Jung

The young German right-back has performed well this month in a new wing-back role and even bagged a goal along the way against Bayern. Special mention also to Paco Alcacer who is near the top of the scoring charts with 4 goals despite our poor form.

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October

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October was a much better month for the team. Things began well with a strong comeback to overcome Cluj in Europe, before we claimed a good win away at Bremen with Vierinha getting the 2 goals. We then squandered a lead but to claim a respectable draw against Dortmund, which was followed up by our only blip - A 4-3 loss to FC Midtjylland in Denmark. We finished off strongly by beating Leverkusen and then Sandhausen in the cup to progress to the round of 16.

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Two wins and a draw in the league moves up to 9th, but more improvement is needed in November. Our goal is to qualify for the Europa League so we are still a bit off at the moment.

Player of the Month: Naldo

The towering Brazillian centre-back has been brilliant this month averaging a rating of well over 7. He's been a rock at the back and also claimed two important goals including the winner at Leverkusen from a free-kick.

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