In their pursuit for fourth place and a Champions League qualifier, Wolfsburg have suffered setbacks in their midfield department.
Junior Malanda's injury was the first spanner thrown into the works for Dieter Hecking to deal with. The imposing nineteen year old Belgian returned from his loan with S.V. Zulte Waregem to 'Die Wölfe', and was forced to be patient for his opportunities to emerge. However, those opportunities came and Malanda has made eight appearances for his new side, contributing with two goals and an assist in the process. The Belgian has shown a lot of promise upon his emergence into Wolfsburg's first team, but that has recently been put on standby. Malanda's season was confirmed to be finished after a medial collateral ligament tear in the away defeat to Borussia Dortmund after a coming together with Sokratis in the DFB-Pokal semi-final, ruling him out anywhere between six to eight weeks. The injury is poorly timed, as Malanda was beginning to thrive alongside Luiz Gustavo and showing signs of the prowess and his commanding ability in the heart of Wolfsburg's midfield.
Malanda's injury lay-off could have been easily dealt with. Wolfsburg have enough options to see out the season in midfield and continue their assault for a top-four position. A 3-1 win away at Hamburg emphasised their qualities in their surge for European football, but Luiz Gustavo has made matters a whole lot worse for Wolfsburg - leaving Dieter Hecking with a selection headache. The Brazilian enforcer has received yet another red card in his short tenure at 'Die Wölfe'; his third in total. A lack of discipline has overshadowed the regularly impressive displays of Gustavo; an instrumental figure in the resurgence of Wolfsburg this term. With Malanda sidelined and Hecking without his star midfielder, Wolfsburg have lost significant quality in their heart of the team, potentially leaving them exposed to trouble.
Hecking still has options available to fill the void of his two powerful midfielders, but one can argue that they are not in the bracket of the respective absentees. Veteran Jan Polák remains an option to Hecking, with the Czech making a rare appearance in the away victory at Hamburg. Polák has the capabilities to 'do a job' for Hecking's side for the short-term, but the risk outweighs the reward in selecting him. Polák is prone to drifting out of position, losing focus and having a lack of positional discipline, making him a risk to exposure to the oppostion. The space he leaves behind in dangerous areas has proven costly for Wolfsburg on various occassions, meaning he may not be a player Hecking will want to utilise in this crucial stage of the season, despite the experience on offer.
Polák at thirty-three is clearly not the future of VfL Wolfsburg by any stretch of the imagination. With his contract expiring at the end of the summer, as well as the aforementioned risk he potentially poses to Wolfsburg's targets, Hecking may indeed decide to opt with Slobodan Medojevic. The young Serbian has had a mixed career at VfL Wolfsburg, finding chances hard to come by initially. Dieter Hecking placed faith in him this season and has been rewarded for doing so, with a string of impressive displays proving Hecking's call to be correct. Medojevic is a more youthful option for Hecking and has ability to work with, ultimately making him the preferred and stronger option for Wolfsburg in the current situation.
With both Malanda and Gustavo unavailable, Dieter Hecking may opt to shut out his midfield entirely by playing both Polák and Medojevic; putting his faith into his front four to produce the goods at the other end of the pitch. With neither providing a lot of attacking threat, the expansive and attacking style that has been implemented by Wolfsburg this term is likely to be nullified due to their options being limited. Even so, to prevent two defensive midfielders starting alongside one another, one of Maxi Arnold or Kevin De Bruyne could be dropped deeper to compensate one of the losses in the deeper roles, seeing Daniel Caligiuri, Marcel Schäfer or even Vierinha brought back into the starting line-up, as part of the three behind the main striker.
Ultimately, the losses are unfortunate at this stage of the season for Wolfsburg, but ones that must be dealt with correctly. With a Champions League spot fingertips away from being secured, Hecking will want to maximise his squad in order to prevent a fall at the final hurdle.