New Wolfsburg coach

“Revival tour”: Hasenhüttl gets started in Wolfsburg

Ralph Hasenhüttl gets going at VfL Wolfsburg.

(Bild: APA/dpa/Moritz Frankenberg)

Ralph Hasenhüttl is tackling the task of Wolfsburg on his "revival tour" in the German Bundesliga with a clear goal. "We have to try to get back to winning ways to keep us in the league. We have to stabilize ourselves," said the new head coach of the 14th-placed team in the table at his official presentation on Monday. Hasenhüttl had been presented as Niko Kovac's successor the day before. For the Styrian, this marked the end of a creative break of one and a half years. He had "felt the hunger again".

Hasenhüttl previously managed FC Ingolstadt (2013-2016) and RB Leipzig (2016-2018) in the German top flight before moving to Southampton FC in England. The former striker worked for the southern English club in the Premier League from 2018 to November 2022. Now he is looking forward to working in Germany again, said the 56-year-old: "I know what I owe to the Bundesliga."

"You have a life like it was before soccer"
Hasenhüttl noted that the time out was necessary after the loss at Southampton. He was "pretty empty" afterwards. He hadn't given a single interview in the last year and a half and had been able to go to pubs without being recognized. "You have a life like it was before soccer. That was very pleasant," said Hasenhüttl. He only watched three games of the World Cup in Qatar at the end of 2022. "I wasn't able to watch soccer."

Now the batteries are recharged. "I've had enough time to recover and have felt the hunger to get back to work," said Hasenhüttl. That's why he didn't have to think twice when the request came from Wolfsburg. The motivation is great. "The knowledge you have in your head after such a long time as head coach is just dying to be used," explained the Graz native. "It's a kind of revival tour in a league that I've always followed. That I know very well and consider to be very strong."

First meeting in the summer
According to VfL sporting director Sebastian Schindzielorz, they first got to know each other during the training camp in Seefeld last summer, after which they stayed in contact. However, Hasenhüttl's involvement only became concrete after the defeat in Augsburg last Saturday (1:3). "We saw then that the team needed a new impetus," said Schindzielorz.

Goal: relegation
For Hasenhüttl, the two-week international break is now about getting to know the available players. The goal is clearly defined as staying in the league. Wolfsburg have only won two of their last 20 league games, and the team with the two Austrians Patrick Wimmer and Pavao Pervan, who are still winless in 2024, are currently six points off the relegation places.

It is not known how long Hasenhüttl's contract with the Lower Saxony club will last. There is talk of a longer-term commitment. His new coaching team has also not yet been formed. Hasenhüttl wants to remain true to his ideas of soccer with Wolfsburg. He admitted on Monday that he had naturally been influenced by the RB style - playing against the ball. "In Southampton, however, I detached myself a little from the one-dimensionality of the RB cosmos."