VfL Wolfsburg endured a campaign to forget last season as they slumped to a 12th place finish.

This was the Lower Saxony sides worst finish since the 2017/18 season spelling the end to Florian Kohfeldt’s underwhelming time in charge.

Despite this drop off last season, fans of the 2008/09 champions are optimistic going into the new season as they prepare for life under former Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt manager, Niko Kovač.

It is the appointment of Kovač that has pleased the fans most at the Volkswagen Arena.

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Niko Kovač back in the Bundesliga

The 50-year-old returns to the German first division three years after leaving Bayern Munich.

The Croatian has been without a job since January 2022 when he was sacked by previous club AS Monaco.

This came as a surprise to many Monaco fans as he left their side in 6th place, only four points off a Champions League place as well as top of their Europa League group.

Monaco had even won six of their last seven games when the manager was sacked.

Kovač has quite an impressive record in Germany’s top flight though with Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich.

He joined Eintracht Frankfurt in March 2016 when the Eagles were in 16th place and by the time he left them they had won a DFB Pokal and qualified for the Europa League.

In his first season in charge he saved the Hesse club from relegation in the play-off match against Nürnberg, winning 2-1 on aggregate.

After a rebuild the summer after the Croatian guided the Eagles to a comfortable 11th place finish as well as the DFB Pokal final, which they subsequently lost to Borussia Dortmund.

They went one further the following season downing the mighty Bayern Munich, who were to be his future employers,  3-1 in Berlin to claim their fifth DFB Pokal trophy. 

Kovač won Bayern Munich’s seventh straight title the following season as well as winning his second straight DFB Pokal.

But it ended up being his old employers that spelled the end to his time at the record champions.

A 5-1 defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt was the last straw for Kovač as he and Bayern Munich parted ways by mutual agreement.

As the Croatian returns to Germany, many believe he will be the man to bring Wolfsburg back to Europe and possibly more.

His spell at Eintracht Frankfurt shows how he can rebuild a team and get them winning quickly.

This Wolfsburg side don’t need that scale of a rebuild but if Kovač can implement his attacking style to the Die Wölfe then we will surely see the same results.

At 50-year-old the Croatian has a lot of managerial experience, meaning unlike previous managers Mark Van Bommel and Florian Kohfeldt he will be able to deal with a string of poor results.

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Can the Wolves get back into Europe?

The Die Wölfe missed out on Europe for the first time since the 2017/18 season last time out.

Last season was a mess at the Volkswagen Arena with managers Mark Van Bommel and Florian Kohfeldt, but this season they will be hoping to get in Europe once again under Kovac.

Kovač will be confident of doing so as he will have more time on the training ground with his team than Union Berlin, Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Köln and SC Freiburg’s coaches due to their European commitments. 

This extra rest will give them the edge when it comes to a Saturday matchday in the Bundesliga.

The squad also has good depth to deal with injuries this season that might come as they look to compete at the top of the table once again.

Getting back into Europe will be imperative for Die Wölfe in terms of bringing in new players next season but also financially for the club moving forward. 

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The Omar Marmoush dilemma

As the season fast approaches, Wolfsburg still don’t know if one of their key attackers will be playing at the Volkswagen Arena this term.

Omar Marmoush, who was on loan last season at VFB Stuttgart, is attracting a lot of interest around Europe especially in England where Brentford and Nottingham Forest are reportedly lining up a move for the Egyptian.

The 23-year-old scored three goals and produced five assists last season for Stuttgart in his first season in the Bundesliga.

The forward was also named rookie of the month for September as he impressed for a struggling Stuttgart side.

Wolfsburg always intended to bring the Egyptian back after his loan but now amid foreign interest in the forward they are looking to tie down the 23-year-old.

Wolfsburg’s managing director, Jörg Schmadtke, confirmed these talks of a new contract to Wolfsburger Allgemeine.

He said “We want to extend Omar's contract. To this end, we are in close exchange with his agent and will now intensify the talks.”

This came after the forward scored the winning goal for the Die Wölfe in their DFB Pokal first round match against Jena.

This winner showed that Marmoush is a player Kovač can rely upon and will want to keep in his squad.

Will the foreign interest materialise or will Wolfsburg keep their man?

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Predicted Line-up

4-2-3-1: Casteels, Baku, Bornauw, Lacroix, Otavio, Arnold, Svanberg, Marmoush, Kruse, Wimmer, Wind

It is still uncertain which formation Kovač will play at the Volkswagen Arena when they kick-off their season against Werder Bremen.

The Croatian manager has played various formations in his past such as a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and more recently at Monaco a 4-4-2. 

However, in their DFB Pokal win last weekend against Jena they started the match playing a 3-4-3 formation.

This didn’t seem to work for the Die Wölfe though as Joshua Guilavogui was substituted on for Maxence Lacroix to let the team switch to a 4-3-3.

One problem Kovač has going into the season is he doesn’t have a fit recognised left-back with Otavio currently out injured.

Jérôme Roussillon is still at the club but he is being linked with moves away from the Lower Saxony team.

Marmoush did play on the left against Jena but as earlier mentioned his future is still uncertain and the Egyptian is more of a forward thinking player than a traditional left back or left wing back.

The Egyptian or new signing Bartol Franjic might have to play there early in the season until Otavio returns from injury but the Brazilian should take the left back place once he returns.

New signing Patrick Wimmer from Arminia Bielefeld has been tested as a number eight in pre-season but many believe he will go back to his place on the right of a front three consisting of Omar Marmoush and Jonas Wind.

The forward positions are the hardest to predict for Wolfsburg as they have great depth in the forward areas with Lukas Nmecha, Luka Waldschmidt and Josip Brekalo not even making my predicted starting 11.

Lacroix and Sebastien Bornauw will be looking to form a formidable partnership at the heart of the Die Wölfe backline as the club try to get back to the solid defence they had under previous manager and current Eintracht Frankfurt manager, Oliver Glasner.

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Predicted finish

I believe under the tutelage of Kovač this Wolfsburg side will succeed next term.

The squad was much better than their 12th place finish last season and with additions of Patrick Wimmer, Mattias Svanberg and Bartol Franjic many believe they will be pushing to get back into Europe once again.

In addition to this, they won’t have the added distraction of midweek European fixtures meaning Kovač can get his ideas across quickly and can work with his squad much more than their rivals for European football.

With this in mind I believe Wolfsburg will finish in 5th place just below the Champions League spots.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen just look to strong to predict them any higher, but expect them to be best of the rest next season.

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