Was it really the departure of the pale-faced Belgian that caused Wolfsburg's nosedive this season after doing so well last year? Or is this where either the manager, the players or the board have to take the blame for the several steps back they've taken?
Let's look first at the flying Belgian, a player who is very much Belgian's MVP, not Hazard. His contributions to Wolfsburg were huge. I think he ended up having the highest amount of assists in Europe last season, and how fit into the team was one of the main reasons why they came second and they won the German cup. He put himself on the map, and Wolfsburg knew once clubs came calling, it would be difficult to keep hold of a player who actually came from Chelsea where he hoped to hit it big.
Him leaving would have left a big hole in Wolfburg which is understandable. But this isn't the same as Cristina leaving Madrid, Messi departing Barcelona or when the Cannibal packed his bags away from Liverpool. Those players are vital to their team winning. As important as De Bruyne was, it was a team effort and I thought Wolfsburg would at least be around that top four position, without necessarily having the legs to come second again. (Which is the equivalent of winning the Bundesliga.)
I thought they bought pretty well. Dante and Draxler may not have the kind of skillset of De Bruyne, but they are both good players, although Dante was on the pitch during the 7-1 lubrication. With those two in, you also had pretty much the same team so it doesn't make sense that they would do so much worse this season in comparison to the last.
This is why Hecking will have to take the blame on this one. He's the manager and the one that has to get the team to operate and win games without the reliance on De Bruyne. By him not being able to do so, that shows weakness on his part as a manager. The key word there is manage, which is what Hecking was unable to do with their star player leaving.
Wolfsburg have a much better team than Hertha Berlin and Mainz, but they will finish below them when all is said and done. That's a failure for Hecking and something he needs to own up to. He just wasn't able to move past the loss of De Bruyne and get the best out of what is a really talented team with some very good players.
The only respite this season for Wolfsburg was the emergence of Draxler who may play an important role for Germany this summer in France. HH
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