Limping Wolves
October 15, 2011
It's fair to say Felix Magath knows a bit about football. As a dependable midfielder, he became European champion with Germany in 1980. With Hamburg, he won the European Cup Winner's Cup in 1977 and the European Cup in 1983 (scoring in both finals), as well as three domestic league titles.
And obviously he's not a bad coach either. Along with his back-to-back league and cup doubles with Bayern Munich in 2005 and 2006, he can look back on the brilliant Bundesliga campaign that won Wolfsburg the title in 2009. In his last 10 seasons, he's had to accommodate European competition in his timetable at every club he's coached.
With a reputation like that to protect, Magath's failure to drag two wins out of Wolfsburg this season looks all the more alarming. If that doesn't change soon, it's looking pretty unlikely that the Wolves will trouble the European places this time round.
No plan, no constancy
Perhaps even more worrying for a man so used to consistent success is the lack of an overarching strategy on the pitch. Even the wins, like the 1-0 over Kaiserslautern at the end of September, had a hit-and-hope character to them.
"We can't really say we've had a good start," said Magath recently, demonstrating his gift for understatement. Others have been harder on him. Uli Hoeness, president of Bayern Munich, riled Magath by suggesting that the 58-year-old was an example of a coaching "type" whose time had passed.
While that seems a little harsh, there were signs last season at Schalke that Magath's old methods weren't working anymore.
He was sacked after the Royal Blues underperformed in the league, even though notable successes papered over the cracks.
He led Schalke to both the Champions League quarterfinal (from where they went on to make the semifinal under his replacement Ralf Rangnick) and the German cup final (which they went on to win, again after he'd gone). It also shouldn't be overlooked that, taking over Wolfsburg in the middle of a relegation battle in March, he helped ensure their top flight status. It looks like he might have to perform a similar act of escapology again.
New old men
Magath's reputation as a bargain-buyer and developer of new talent has taken a few dents too. In his first stint at Wolfsburg from 2007 to 2009, he discovered and developed dazzling footballers like Edin Dzeko and Grafite, and can be credited with giving Mario Gomez his first taste of professional football while at Stuttgart in 2004. Even luring established veterans Raul and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from more glamorous sides abroad to Schalke in 2010 weren't bad signings.
But his Midas touch deserted him with this summer's business at Wolfsburg. As with Schalke last year, he oversaw a comprehensive overhaul of the squad, buying 12 new players at a total cost of 20.9 million euros ($27.9 million) - only Bayern Munich spent more money. But his choices this year have leant towards older players who are past the zenith of their careers - Alexander Hleb and Thomas Hitzlsperger, for instance, who are currently both out injured.
Always rotating
Wolfsburg's struggles this season are perhaps best illustrated by their constant rotation. No other team in the Bundesliga has used so many different players this season - 25 in eight games. Magath has only played the same team in the same formation twice so far, in the first two games. After that, he has been constantly switching, tweaking and improvising.
That, on top of the fact that so many of the squad are so new, has created a destabilizing effect. Magath is of course well aware of this. "We have a lot of new players," he said recently. "Because of personal performances and suspensions, we have had trouble working on consistency, we always have to vary. That's why we're not yet so stable."
And yet his hopes now seem pinned on the return of injured, senior players. They might be fragile, but at least they can organize themselves. Apart from Hleb, Hitzlsperger and Hasan Salihamidzic all waiting on the sidelines, there's also the return of the Brazilian Chris to look forward to.
And Magath seems to prefer experience over youth. His team is currently the second oldest in the top flight, with an average age of 27.2. "If you look around the Bundesliga, you'd see that it's more the exception to see an 18 or 19-year-old as a team regular," he told kicker magazine last week.
But there's also a growing belief that the old dog might be prepared to at least have a look at some new tricks. Magath may have decided he's waited too long for the veterans to emerge from the treatment room. Wolfsburg's under-19 team are, after all, the current German champions and this week saw 17-year-old youth team player Maximilian Arnold sign a professional contract at the club. Moreover, he handed first XI debuts to two youngsters - Bjarne Thoelke and Yohandry Orozco - in the club's 2-1 win over Nuremberg. Perhaps the notoriously aloof Magath does have an ear for the critics after all.
Author: Ben Knight
Editor: Martin Kuebler