Wolfsburg’s Disappointing Bundesliga Season
Wolfsburg’s 2015/16 Bundesliga campaign has been unremarkable and lacklustre. Let’s remember that this is the team that finished second in the league table just a year ago. However, they’ve found themselves in eighth place at present. It’s been a long season of inconsistent play, scarce goals, and frustrating defeats.
Second-Half Collapse
It was a decent start to the season for Wolfsburg, taking 11 points from their first five matches. It appeared that Wolfsburg were on their way to another successful Bundesliga campaign. However, they were stopped in their tracks in the sixth game. A mesmerising performance from Robert Lewandowski saw Wolfsburg give up five goals in the second half, in a 5-1 loss to Bayern Munich. It was an emphatic statement from Bayern. If Wolfsburg were going to contend for the title, they couldn’t afford to have a repeat.
The loss to Bayern proved to be the start of an inconsistent run of form. In the next 11 matches, Wolfsburg only came away with 14 points. The poor run meant that, heading into the winter break, they were in seventh place, outside of both a Champions League and Europa League spot.
A strong run of form was needed in the second half of the season to get back to the top of the table. Unfortunately, what then came happened to be worse than the first half. Wolfsburg only managed to pick up 19 points in the last 17 matches of the season, losing five of their last ten.
They finished 14th in the table based on the second-half season points. A dismal goal differential of -7 was also one of the worst in the league in the second-half of the season, only scoring 21 goals, and conceding 28. In the 2014/15 season, they had scored 39 goals in the second half of their campaign.
Goal Drought
Goal-scoring was a problem all season long. The 47 tallied this season pale in comparison to the 72 scored the previous year. Striker, Bas Dost, had 16 goals in 2014/15, but only managed to score half of that total this time around. However, he wasn’t the only player that had a below average spell.
André Schürrle ended up leading the team with nine goals. Summer acquisition, Julian Draxler, dealt with injury issues this season, and was only able to contribute five goals and five assists. Striker, Max Kruse, netted a disappointing six, which failed to match his tally of 11 goals for Borussia Monchengladbach the previous year. Danish striker, Nicklas Bendtner, failed to produce and was released by the club in April.
One of the main reasons for the goal-scoring problems has been the loss of Kevin De Bryune. De Bryune, who was transferred to Manchester City at the start of the season, scored 10 goals and had 20 assists in the Bundesliga last season, and it appears that Wolfsburg have yet to find a replacement for him.
The Good
Despite the season being seen as a disappointment generally, there has been some positive moments as well. Wolfsburg came out on top in Group B of the Champions League, and advanced to the quarter-finals. Big wins over Werder Bremen (6-0) and Hannover (4-0) were also highlights of the year.
The Road Ahead
With this season finished, the off-season ahead could be very interesting. A new striker may be a target in this summer’s transfer window. Wolfsburg have been an early destination rumour for Arsenal striker, Olivier Giroud. A new attacker of his calibre could help immensely.
Regardless of this past spell, Wolfsburg still have the potential to be a top team in the Bundesliga. With Dieter Hecking back at the helm next season, and the room for some new key signings over the summer, the Wolfsburg we saw last year may yet again return.
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