The Monday Bulletin: Trouble in Wolfsburg and Hamburg, Freiburg finally shine and the Stuttgart remplate for rebuilding the German national team
Hello and welcome to the tenth edition of the Gegenpressing Monday Bulletin. This newsletter hopes to provide a vital source of information for any serious Bundesliga fan, as we round up some of the most intriguing aspects of the matchday thanks to snippets of insight from our writers. Let us know what you think of the format and the talking points in the comments section below.
This weekend’s results
Hoffenheim 3-1 Bochum
Wolfsburg 0-1 Freiburg
Werder Bremen 2-0 Augsburg
Union Berlin 3-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Heidenheim 3-2 Darmstadt
Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund 2-3 RB Leipzig
Stuttgart 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
FC Köln 0-0 Mainz
Kovac living on borrowed time at Wolfsburg
The dreaded vote of confidence is something most football managers hope they’ll never have to contend with in their careers, but poor Wolfsburg head coach Niko Kovac technically had to confront no less than three of them this weekend. Not only did managing director of sport, Marcel Schäfer, stand by his head coach prior to Saturday’s disheartening 1-0 defeat to Freiburg but did so once again after the match. “I stand by my statement,” said the Wolfsburg boss to Sky Sports after the game. "We're going through a brutally difficult phase. I don't want to make it any better than it is. But I have the feeling that we can do it together." Then, as if to labour the point, the 39 year old felt compelled to make a statement at the club’s Christmas party on Sunday to once again back Kovac. Seasoned football fans will likely know where this is heading. While Wolfsburg weren’t particularly poor on Saturday, they also didn’t exactly look like a side fighting for their lives either. And with an away trip against Darmstadt and then a home tie against Bayern Munich still to play before Christmas, there’s still a very strong sense that Kovac is fighting for his life at the Volkswagen Arena. The question is whether Schäfer & Co. have already made up their mind and are simply waiting until the winter break to pull the trigger, or really believe Kovac can turn things around in the next few weeks. [Stefan Bienkowski]
Hamburger SV: With or without Tim Walter
Back-to-back defeats and utter chaos is once again back at Hamburger SV. On Wednesday, HSV were eliminated from the German Cup by Hertha Berlin in dramatic fashion. Twice in regular time and then again in extra time, Hamburg gave away lead after lead and then lost on penalties. Then, on Saturday, HSV lost 2-1 to Paderborn; the result saw the club coached by Tim Walter drop to third place with just 28 points, the same amount as fourth place Greuther Fürth. The mechanisms of the business have already started turning, with speculation rampant that Walters could now be sacrificed by the club to secure the club’s promotion. Indeed, whistles among the HSV supporters suggest that at least supporters for now have had enough. Walter will be allowed to continue, at least until the final game ahead of the winter break against 1. FC Nürnberg, that much was made clear by sporting director Jonas Boldt. As a result, Walter was heading the practice session on Sunday after the game. But will it be beyond the winter? The result against Nürnberg will be one factor. But even a victory against Nürnberg at the weekend might not be enough for Walter. The club wants to undergo a thorough analysis during the month-long winter break, and that analysis will determine the next steps the club wants to take to ensure that Hamburg will finally return to the Bundesliga. Whether that will be with or without Walter remains to be seen. [Manuel Veth]
Get up to six months off your subscription by referring friends to the Gegenpressing Newsletter and Podcast.
Defiant Streich has turned things around at Freiburg (again)
Freiburg head coach Christian Streich was in a defiant mood after Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Wolfsburg. Following a season that has proved to be a frustrating, stop-start affair for the Breisgau-Brasilianer, Streich was in no mood to apologise for the smash-and-grab nature of Freiburg’s win over Wolfsburg. Just one shot on target may suggest that the travelling side were somewhat fortunate when Michael Gregoritsch bundled home the only goal of the game against the run of play in the 74th minute, but Streich is clearly too long in the tooth to stare a gifted horse in the mouth. "We don't have to apologise for anything,” noted the 58-year-old coach, following his side’s first back-to-back victory in the Bundesliga since late August. And one can understand why. Following a surprising 5-0 win over Olympiacos in the Europa League, a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Mainz last weekend and the aforementioned result in Wolfsburg, Freiburg seem to be finally putting their preseason demons and injuries behind them and building up a bit of steam. And considering the fact that they have a worry-free trip to West Ham this week, followed by perfectly winnable Bundesliga clashes against Köln and Heidenheim, there’s every chance that Freiburg fans will finish the year with a smile on their faces. As Streich has proven time and time again, a bit of patience and hard work is usually all that’s needed to navigate through troubled waters and it would seem as though the Black Forest side have done exactly that. [Stefan Bienkowski]
VfB Stuttgart for Germany?
Alexander Nübel, Josha Vagnoman, Waldemar Anton, Max Mittelstädt, Atakan Karazor, Angelo Stiller, Chris Führich, and Deniz Undav were in Stuttgart’s starting XI on Sunday against Leverkusen. In other words, eight players who are eligible for the German national team coached by Julian Nagelsmann. “I want to separate this topic from the European Championship completely,” Stuttgart head coach Sebastian Hoeneß said when asked about the large German contingent’s ambitions to represent their country next summer at the home tournament. “The most important part is, and we have underlined this many times, that they are very good players, with tons of quality, who just happen to play well together.” But Hoeneß also quickly added that team success could quickly lead to individual success. “That the boys are German and, therefore, more in the focus of the media is a fact,” Hoeneß said. “But the Euros are still far away. The boys and I will try to play well, show good performances, which in March might lead to a few of them being on [Nagelsmann’s] list.” Hoeneß is right to downplay the performances of his players at this stage of the season. But the fact is also that his side’s key players are also playing in positions identified as weak spots for Germany. Vagnoman and Mittelstädt, for example, have been excellent full-backs in recent weeks. Stiller and Karazor have given Stuttgart the sort of stability in midfield Bayern Munich have been dreaming about. Winger Führich has been one of the most productive wingers in Europe. Then there is Undav; the centre-forward continues to impress and the no.9 position remains Germany’s most problematic area. As a result, Stuttgart’s success in the Bundesliga could go a long way to fix some of Nagelsmann’s issues at the Euros next summer. [Manuel Veth]