Berlin – VfL Wolfsburg are spared nothing these days. It was not enough on Tuesday evening that Anthony Modeste headed the goal for the 3: 2 (1: 1) win for 1. FC Köln in the penultimate minute of an exciting game. The Frenchman then turned this result, which was so bitter for VfL, into a personal settlement with Wolfsburg’s sports director Jörg Schmadtke. “I’m happy today because we played and won against Wolfsburg. This is Schmadtke’s team, ”Modeste said of the ARD“ Sportschau ”and expressed himself – so that nobody missed it – in a Sky interview and on social media again very similarly. “You always meet twice in life. It’s nice to win here and send Wolfsburg into crisis. “
Jörg Schmadtke does not want to comment on the statements
The striker’s grudge against the football manager dates back to the summer of 2017, when they were both at FC. At that time, Modeste switched to the Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian for a lot of money. The striker claimed at the time that he would rather stay in Cologne, but constantly contradicted himself in his statements on the subject. Schmadtke reacted very annoyed to this. He did not want to comment on Modeste’s current statements. “He can say that, I am interested and not concerned,” said Schmadtke on Wednesday in an interview with the kicker.
Modeste has been back in Cologne and Schmadtke in the service of VfL Wolfsburg since 2018. The VfL professionals could easily have spared their managing director Sport on Tuesday evening, because Modeste’s two goals in the 34th and 89th minute as well as Mark Uth’s 2-2 (73rd) “we are allowed to don’t get paid like that, ”said coach Florian Kohfeldt. National player Ridle Baku made a mistake once, and twice the Wolfsburg defense left the Cologne template king Kingsley Schindler, who could even have made it 4-2 in stoppage time with a shot from close range, but failed on the crossbar. “We can take it easy for ourselves and say: In such a phase you concede such goals,” said Kohfeldt. “But we mustn’t hope that certain things will go away. We have to fight against it. “
And so the sixth defeat in a row felt even more bitter for the Wolfsburg than most of the previous five. Because they often followed the pattern that a team submitted rather dispassionately to having lost all the qualities of their successful previous season. Against Cologne there was actually a different energy and an increase in performance – only the result remained the same.
In Wolfsburg, this sporting crisis has now reached historic dimensions. VfL did not even lose six games in a row in its near relegation years 2018, 2017, 2011 or 2006. That was last in 1977, when the club gave up the last twelve games of the season in the second division north. Many are already pricing in their seventh defeat, because in the last game of this year the “Wolves” have to play at FC Bayern Munich on Friday (8.30pm, Sat.1 and DAZN). “I’ll do everything I can to try to take a point or a win on Friday. Don’t play on point, but take points, ”said Kohfeldt, almost defiantly.
Wolfsburg is in the relegation battle
The coach, who was only signed at the end of October and who started perfectly with three wins after taking office, was already clear after the Champions League loss against OSC Lille that he would not be able to solve any major problems this year. His hopes are on the short winter break and the many weeks of training from January without additional international games. That was “the lever”, said Kohfeldt, and it should be clear to everyone where VfL might be: not far from the relegation place – and thus in the relegation battle. “Of course we have to look down and be careful that it doesn’t get even more precarious,” said Schmadtke, who does not rule out the signing of new players during the winter break.