After defeat against Dortmund: VfL Wolfsburg parts ways with coach Hasenhüttl

Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg has parted ways with coach Ralph Hasenhüttl with immediate effect. The Austrian took over the club during a difficult period last season, sporting director Peter Christiansen said in a statement. He succeeded in stabilizing the team. "However, the results and developments in recent months have made us decide to react now," said the Dane.

U19 coach Daniel Bauer will take charge of the team for the remaining two games of the season, along with U19 assistant coach Julian Klamt and U16 head coach Tobias Holm. On Friday (8:30 p.m./DAZN), they face TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, and on May 17, Wolfsburg will play at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The Volkswagen club desperately wanted to return to international play – but failed to achieve this ambitious goal for the fourth consecutive season. After a losing streak of eight games with only two draws, the management felt compelled to take action.

The 57-year-old Hasenhüttl only moved to Wolfsburg on March 17, 2024. Despite a contract valid until 2026, the Austrian will have a shorter tenure at VfL than his predecessor Niko Kovac, who now coaches Borussia Dortmund.

There was a 4-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, after which Hasenhüttl said: "I'm assuming we'll go home today, work together for another two weeks, and then we'll see what happens in the summer." A week earlier, after the 1-0 home defeat to SC Freiburg, VfL officials had declared that they wanted to keep the coach at least until the end of the season. A parting of the ways in the summer was already considered certain.

"I always find it a bit cheap to blame everything on the coach," said defender Kilian Fischer after the decisive defeat in Dortmund. "He's not on the field. We players have to fix it."

Hasenhüttl's development work at the Volkswagen club was accompanied by a sudden change of mood. In March, his team fell into a serious sporting crisis. Since then, indications of an early departure have been mounting.

At his third Bundesliga stop after FC Ingolstadt and RB Leipzig, Hasenhüttl initially saved a completely unsettled Wolfsburg team from relegation in the spring of 2024. Starting in the summer, he built a new team, including some top signings in Algerian Mohammed Amoura, Greek Konstantinos Koulierakis, and 19-year-old Bence Dardai, which appeared to be on the right track until mid-February.

However, several factors proved to be Hasenhüttl's downfall, not just the repeated failure to qualify for the European Cup. The club's record at home is particularly disappointing. The club failed to secure a single win against relegation candidates Holstein Kiel (2-2), VfL Bochum (1-1), FC St. Pauli (1-1), and 1. FC Heidenheim (0-1) this spring.

Hasenhüttl relied on quick, counter-attacking football. He lacked a game plan when in possession. This took its toll in numerous games – and also displeased the new sporting director Christiansen. The Dane hadn't hired the coach. That was his predecessor, Marcel Schäfer, who had to leave shortly after Hasenhüttl's arrival in Wolfsburg.

The Wolves have had no rest in terms of sport since qualifying for the 2021 Champions League. Christiansen is already the third sporting director since then. And with Hasenhüttl, the fourth coach to fail since Oliver Glasner's departure. He was the tenth head coach in just ten years.